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The 117th United States Congress begins. Nancy Pelosi is re-elected as Speaker of the House with a narrow seven-vote majority . | WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Nancy Pelosi was narrowly re-elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives on Sunday, as a new Congress took office amid political uncertainty, with Senate control undecided and a Republican fight looming over presidential election results.
U.S. lawmakers sworn in for 117th Congress
01:55
The House voted 216-209 to reinstate Pelosi, after Democrats lost 11 seats in the November elections to command a narrower 222-212 majority. Five Democrats chose not to support her - two voted for Democratic lawmakers who were not running, while three others simply voted “present.”
“As we are sworn in today, we accept a responsibility as daunting and demanding as any that previous generations of leadership have faced. We begin the new Congress during a time of extraordinary difficulty,” Pelosi said in a floor speech that noted the deaths of more than 350,000 Americans from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Now is a time for our nation to heal. Our most urgent priority will continue to be defeating the coronavirus. And defeat it, we will,” she added, pledging that further aid would follow the latest $892 billion package that Congress passed in December.
The Senate remains Republican run ahead of twin elections in Georgia on Tuesday, giving its members a platform to again air President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that his loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden was the result of fraud.
Multiple state and federal reviews have found no evidence of the sort of widespread fraud Trump claims, but Republican senators and House members plan to challenge the election result when Congress certifies it on Wednesday.
A Republican push led by Senator Ted Cruz for an emergency 10-day audit of election results in contested battleground states drew criticism on Sunday from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally.
“It appears to be more of a political dodge than an effective remedy,” Graham said in a statement. “I will listen closely. But they have a high bar to clear.”
The narrower balance of power in both chambers this year could also encourage moderates from each party to flex their political muscles, especially after Trump leaves the White House on Jan. 20 and Biden, who ran as a centrist, takes office.
But leaders in both the House and Senate tried to sound optimistic despite mounting challenges.
“From political division to a deadly pandemic to adversaries around the world, the hurdles before us are many and they are serious,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor.
“But there is also plenty of reason for hope,” the Kentucky Republican added, citing the ongoing rollout of coronavirus vaccine. “I’d say 2021 looks bright already.”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat, also said in a statement he hoped the new Congress would “turn the page” on partisan division “and begin a new chapter of cooperation among Democrats and Republicans.”
But the smaller Democratic majority and the still-raging coronavirus pandemic made re-election as speaker trickier for Pelosi, the only woman ever to hold the job.
“It’s not personal. It’s not malicious. It just represents a feeling in my district,” Democratic Representative Elissa Slotkin of Michigan told reporters before voting “present.”
“We need a different crop (of leaders) that represents a broader swath of the country,” Slotkin said.
The smaller caucus meant less room for dissident Democrats to vote against Pelosi without risking a possible win for Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, who opposed her.
“We are just (an) extremely slim amount of votes away from risking the speakership to the Republican Party,” said Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive who wants new leadership but still backed Pelosi.
“It’s bigger than any one of us. And that is consequential,” she added.
In the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence swore in 32 senators on Sunday, administering the oath of office in pairs due to COVID-19 restrictions.
A Republican win of one or both Georgia Senate seats up for election on Tuesday would cement the Republican majority led by McConnell.
Twin Democratic wins in Georgia would produce a 50-50 Senate, where Democratic Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would hold the tie-breaking vote once she is sworn in on Jan. 20.
| Government Job change - Election | January 2021 | ['(216–209)', '(The Guardian)', '(Reuters)'] |
British Prime Minister Theresa May proposes that a snap election for the House of Commons will be held on the 8th of June. A two-thirds majority of the House of Commons is needed to approve this, eventually tomorrow. The Labour and Liberal Democrats party leaders have expressed their support. | LONDON — Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain on Tuesday called for an early election in less than two months, clearly anxious that her thin majority in Parliament would weaken her hand in complicated negotiations on the British exit from the European Union.
Mrs. May’s proposal for a snap election on June 8 broke her oft-repeated vow not to call an early vote and was aimed at exploiting her popularity to gain more parliamentary seats. This would strengthen her political backing in the negotiations for Britain’s departure, known as Brexit.
| Government Job change - Election | April 2017 | ['(BBC)', '(The New York Times)'] |
Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is sentenced to five years in prison in absentia. | Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been found guilty of criminal negligence and sentenced in absentia to five years in prison. The Supreme Court convicted her of mishandling a rice subsidy scheme which allegedly cost Thailand at least $8bn.
Ousted in 2014, weeks before a military coup, and later impeached, Ms Yingluck denies all charges and fled before the verdict, reportedly to Dubai.
Public opinion is divided. She remains popular with rural and poor voters. The Supreme Court judges said Ms Yingluck had been aware of the falsified rice deals but did nothing to stop it.
"The accused knew that the government-to-government rice contract was unlawful but did not prevent it," the court said in a statement.
"Which is a manner of seeking unlawful gains. Therefore, the action of the accused is considered negligence of duty," it said. During her trial, Ms Yingluck had argued she was not responsible for the day-to-day running of the scheme and insisted she was a victim of political persecution.
The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says "the verdict sets an awkward precedent, criminalising a prime minister for a policy, which was a central part of her election manifesto". "There has been no suggestion that she was herself involved in any corruption," he explains. Though popular with her rural voter base, the scheme was too expensive and open to corruption, her opponents said.
Ms Yingluck is thought to be in Dubai where her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, lives in self-imposed exile avoiding a 2008 sentence for corruption.
Ms Yingluck entered politics only after his sentence and was seen by critics as a proxy for her ousted brother.
Both siblings remain popular among Thailand's rural poor, but are opposed by an urban and middle-class elite.
She is unlikely to serve any of her sentence because she is out of the country. The trial ran over two years, with a ruling initially scheduled for late August. When Ms Yingluck surprisingly failed to show up in court, the verdict was postponed and an arrest warrant was issued for her.
May 2011- Yingluck Shinawatra is elected PM, and shortly afterwards begins rolling out her rice subsidy scheme
January 2014 - Thailand's anti-corruption authorities investigate Ms Yingluck in connection to the scheme
May 2014 - She is forced to step down from her post after Thailand's constitutional court finds her guilty of abuse of power in another case. Weeks later the military ousts what remains of her government
January 2015 - An army-backed legislature impeaches Ms Yingluck for corruption over her role in the rice scheme, which effectively bans her from politics for five years. It also launches legal proceedings against her
August 2017 - Ms Yingluck fails to appear at court for the verdict, claiming ill health. It is later thought she left for Dubai
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | September 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
Governor John Kasich signs a bill legalizing medical marijuana, making Ohio the 25th state in America to approve its use. | COLUMBUS - Gov. John Kasich signed a plan to legalize medical marijuana into law Wednesday, making Ohio the 25th state to approve its use.
Those suffering from epilepsy, chronic pain and the side effects of cancer treatments could soon be able to treat their pain with marijuana. Despite years of delays and opposition, state lawmakers passed a plan in May to legalize medical marijuana for those with a doctor's referral. Groups working to place a rival medical marijuana proposal on the fall ballot put pressure on legislators, but ultimately dropped their efforts after the lawmakers approved a plan.
Kasich was quiet about whether he supported legalizing medical marijuana, saying only that he would follow doctors' recommendations and wanted to help children in pain. But he ultimately signed the bill, which will take effect in 90 days.
While medical marijuana will be legal in three months, it will take much longer to set up rules for growers, dispensaries and patients. So, what comes next?
How soon can I buy medical marijuana?
If they have a doctor's recommendation, Ohioans can purchase medical marijuana from other states where it is legal as soon as Sept. 6 and bring it back into the state. Then, the Department of Commerce will have about eight months to create rules for those who will grow marijuana. After that, cultivators will need time to start growing medical marijuana, and dispensaries will set up shop. Around that time, doctors must start applying to the Ohio State Medical Board for a certificate to recommend medical marijuana.
All this means Ohioans won't be able to buy medical marijuana in-state until 2017 or early 2018. Note: Once the Ohio system is set up, Buckeyes will no longer be allowed to bring in marijuana from other states.
What kind of marijuana can I use?
Here's the big sticking point for many marijuana advocates: Under this law, it's still illegal to smoke marijuana – even if you buy it out of state. Vaporizers, edibles and oils are OK.
It goes without saying: Recreational use of marijuana also is still illegal under this law.
Which medical conditions will qualify for medical marijuana?
AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Crohn's disease, epilepsy or another seizure disorder, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, hepatitis C, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, pain that is either chronic and severe or intractable, Parkinson's disease, positive status for HIV, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle cell anemia, spinal cord disease or injury, Tourette's syndrome, traumatic brain injury, and ulcerative colitis.
Who will grow the marijuana?
No one may grow medical marijuana at home or for personal use. But those who want to grow medical marijuana commercially must apply with the Ohio Department of Commerce. They cannot grow marijuana within 500 feet of a school, public playground, church, public park or public library. Those with certain criminal convictions are disqualified from growing marijuana.
Who can recommend it?
Physicians who are certified by the State Medical Board of Ohio. They could be disqualified from certification if they have a financial interest in growing marijuana, have lost their license to practice medicine or have been convicted of certain crimes. These doctors must attend at least two hours of training on diagnosing and treating conditions with medical marijuana.
Can I be fired for using medical marijuana?
Yes. Despite opposition from some Democrats, the law would allow employers to fire employees who violate office policies against marijuana use – even if the marijuana was recommended by physicians. If you are fired for marijuana use, you will not receive unemployment compensation either.
Can I vote on medical marijuana in November?
No. Several groups were interested in placing a proposal on the fall ballot, but each decided against it. The most prominent, Marijuana Policy Project and its local affiliate Ohioans for Medical Marijuana, dropped its bid just three days after senators passed the medical marijuana bill. The effort was too costly and unpredictable in a presidential election year.
"(T)he reality is that raising funds for medical marijuana policy changes is incredibly difficult, especially given the improvements made to the proposed program by the Ohio General Assembly and the fact that the Governor is expected to sign the bill," said Brandon Lynaugh, campaign manager for Ohioans for Medical Marijuana, in a statement.
| Government Policy Changes | June 2016 | ['(Cincinnati Enquirer)'] |
The Boy Scouts officially changes its name to Scouts BSA and young women join as official members of the organization for the first time. | All New Scouts – Young Women and Young Men – Who Join Scouts BSA Will Have the Opportunity to Earn the Prestigious Eagle Scout Rank
IRVING, TX – February 1, 2019 – From twilight hikes, to festive launch parties and campouts, thousands of Scouts, parents, and volunteers will celebrate nationwide as the Boy Scouts of America welcomes for the first time both young women and young men ages 11-17 into its most iconic program for character and leadership development.
“I have never felt more joy or exhilaration than I do right now in founding our troop,” shared Kim Foli, a soon-to-be Scoutmaster from Gainesville, Florida. “My daughter and I knew we had to do this last year when it was announced. Scouting was the best thing I could have done with my son, and now I walk the trail with my daughter. Scout me in!”
For more than five decades, the Boy Scouts of America has been welcoming young women into its Venturing, Exploring, Sea Scouts and STEM Scouts programs. And today, the BSA is further expanding that legacy by welcoming young women into Scouts BSA.
“I could not be more excited for what this means for the next generation of leaders in our nation,” said Michael B. Surbaugh, Chief Scout Executive. “Through Scouts BSA, more young people than ever before – young women and men – will get to experience the benefits of camaraderie, confidence, resilience, trustworthiness, courage and kindness through a time-tested program that has been proven to build character and leadership.”
By welcoming boys and girls into these iconic Scouting programs, the Boy Scouts of America is responding to the requests of families who, for years, have sought these opportunities for every member of their family.
“As a parent with both sons and daughters, I have seen firsthand the unique experiences available to our sons in the BSA and have been asking the BSA to create an option for our daughters every year for the last decade,” noted Alex J Sobtzak Sr. of Spring Hill, Florida. “I am so excited that my daughters will have the same opportunities as my sons.”
For many young women, the opportunity to join Scouts BSA comes after years of attending Scouting events with their families. “I have been an honorary Scout since I was two when I’d hang out with my older brother. I was never able to earn the badges, but I was always there,” said Rachel P from Sandpoint, Idaho. “Now I get to do all of that on my own.”
Through participation in all-girl troops, young women that join Scouts BSA will learn from the same program, earn the same merit badges and achieve the same advancements that boys have earned for nearly 109 years in the Boy Scout program.
“I’ve been saying for years that everything we teach boys applies equally to girls. Now, girls can have the same fun, adventure and personal growth that boys have been having,” explained Mike Harlan of Louisville, Kentucky. “We are training the future leaders of our communities and nation, and those future leaders will be women and men. Helping them learn and grow through Scouting is the best investment I can make in the future of my community, our country and society.”
For more than 100 years, the pinnacle of the Scouting experience for some has been achieving the highest rank of Eagle Scout. Starting today, young women can begin the journey toward that goal, and the BSA will ensure that all new Scouts BSA members have a fair opportunity to earn the prestigious Eagle Scout rank. The BSA will celebrate our inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts in 2020.
“Scouting has been a big part of my family for many generations,” said Bryan Blair of Richland, Washington. “Scouting isn’t just something I do; it is a fundamental part of who I am. I am an Eagle Scout and always will be. But more importantly, I am a husband and father to wonderful daughters who deserve all I have to give them. My daughters now have every opportunity I had.”
To learn more or join, visit www.Scouting.org/ScoutsBSA.
About the Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®” The Scouting organization is composed of nearly 2.2 million youth members between the ages of 5 and 21 and approximately 960,000 volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.Scouting.org.
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If you are a member of the working media, please contact PR@scouting.org
Follow official BSA social channels for updates from the BSA, Cub Scouts, BSA Publications, High Adventure Bases, and the rest of the BSA family. | Organization Established | February 2019 | ['(ABC6)', '(Scouting Newsroom)'] |
The White House holds an official review after an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture was forced to resign regarding controversy about a video that surfaced on the Internet. | This article was reported by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Shaila Dewan and Brian Stelter and was written by Ms. Stolberg.
WASHINGTON Shirley Sherrod, the black Agriculture Department official whose firing and subsequent offer of rehiring by the Obama administration this week has sparked a national conversation about politics and race, said Thursday she believes she deserves a telephone call from President Obama and the White House said Mr. Obama has not ruled it out.
Ms. Sherrod, who until Monday was the rural development director for the Agriculture Department in Georgia, said she was inclined not to return to the agency. Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday said he was asking her to return to use her expertise to help move the department past its checkered history in race relations, but she told the “Today” show on NBC that she did not want the burden of solving the department’s racial problems to rest entirely on her.
She said she would like to have a conversation with Mr. Obama, but does not believe he owes her an apology.
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“I’d like to talk to him a little bit about the experiences of people like me, people at the grass-roots level, people who live out there in rural America, people who live in the South,” she said on the show. “I know he does not have that kind of experience. Let me help him a little bit with how we think, how we live, and the things that are happening.”
Ms. Sherrod appeared on a round of morning talk shows, one day after the White House and Mr. Vilsack offered their profuse apologies to her for the way she had been humiliated and forced to resign after a conservative blogger put out a misleading video clip that seemed to show her admitting antipathy toward a white farmer.
By the end of the day, Ms. Sherrod had gained instant fame and emerged as the heroine of a compelling story about race and redemption. Pretty much everyone else had egg on his face from the conservative bloggers and pundits who first pushed the inaccurate story to Mr. Vilsack, who looked stricken as he told reporters he had offered Ms. Sherrod a new job. “This is a good woman, she’s been put through hell and I could have and should have done a better job,” Mr. Vilsack said, as he conceded that he had ordered Ms. Sherrod’s firing in haste, without knowing that the video clip, from a speech she gave to the N.A.A.C.P., had been taken out of context. He said that he had acted on his own, and that there was “no pressure from the White House.”
Mr. Vilsack’s late-afternoon appearance on Wednesday capped a humiliating and fast-paced few days not only for the White House, but also for the N.A.A.C.P. and the national news media, especially the Fox News Channel and its hosts Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, all of whom played a role in promoting the story about Ms. Sherrod. Advertisement
The controversy illustrates the influence of right-wing Web sites like the one run by Andrew Breitbart, the blogger who initially posted the misleading and highly edited video, which he later said had been sent to him already edited. (Similarly, Mr. Breitbart used edited videos to go after Acorn, the community organizing group.) Politically charged stories often take root online before being shared with a much wider audience on Fox. The television coverage, in turn, puts pressure on other news media outlets to follow up. The full video of Ms. Sherrod’s March speech to an N.A.A.C.P. gathering in Douglas, Ga., shows that it was a consciousness-raising story. Ms. Sherrod’s father was murdered in 1965 by white men who were never indicted; she spoke about how in response, she vowed to stay in the South and work for change. She married the Rev. Charles Sherrod, a civil rights leader and cofounder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Later, as director of a nonprofit group in Georgia formed to help black farmers, long before she went to work for the Agriculture Department, Ms. Sherrod received a request to help a white farm couple, Roger and Eloise Spooner, and she confessed in the speech that the request had given her pause. She did help them, however, and as the fracas over her firing became public this week, the Spooners came to her defense, saying Ms. Sherrod had gone out of her way to accompany them to see a lawyer and, in effect, had helped them save their farm.
“If we hadn’t have found her, we would have lost everything, I’m afraid,” Mrs. Spooner, 82, said in a telephone interview.
Fox News began its pursuit of Ms. Sherrod in prime time on Monday night on three successive opinion shows that reached at least three million people. Leading off, Mr. O’Reilly asked on his top-rated program, “Is there racism in the Department of Agriculture?” He discussed the tape, plugged Mr. Breitbart’s Web site and demanded that Ms. Sherrod resign immediately.
By the time Mr. O’Reilly’s remarks, which were taped in the afternoon, were broadcast, Ms. Sherrod had indeed resigned, a development that Fox’s next host, Mr. Hannity, treated as breaking news at the beginning of his show. He played a short part of what he called the “shocking” video from Mr. Breitbart, and later discussed the development with a panel of guests, mentioning the N.A.A.C.P.’s recent accusations of racism within the conservative Tea Party movement.
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“It is interesting they just lectured the Tea Party movement last week,” Mr. Hannity said, telegraphing a talking point that would come up repeatedly on other shows.
Fox’s 10 p.m. show also covered the resignation as breaking news. Ms. Sherrod later said Fox had not tried to contact her before running the video clip repeatedly on Monday. (A Fox spokeswoman said the O’Reilly program had contacted the Agriculture Department for comment. On Wednesday, Mr. O’Reilly said he owed Ms. Sherrod an apology “for not doing my homework.”)
By Tuesday, Ms. Sherrod’s forced resignation was the talk of cable television news, and it was becoming clear that the Breitbart video clip had been taken out of context. After seeing the full video, the N.A.A.C.P., which had initially applauded Ms. Sherrod’s resignation, had reversed itself, saying it had been “snookered” into believing she had been acting with racial bias.
Still, Mr. Vilsack stood his ground on Tuesday, insisting that the Agriculture Department had a “zero tolerance” policy for discrimination. The department has for years been embroiled in lawsuits over accusations of discrimination against black farmers, and Mr. Vilsack said he had been working hard to “turn the page on the sordid civil rights record as U.S.D.A.”
By Tuesday night, however, the White House had intervened, a senior official said, and sent word to the Agriculture Department that Mr. Vilsack needed to reconsider.
The official said Mr. Obama had not spoken personally to Mr. Vilsack, but questions swirled around the White House on Wednesday over just how involved the president and his aides were.
Mr. Obama has shied from making race relations a major theme of his presidency, yet somehow racially charged controversies keep cropping up as was the case last year, when the president said the Cambridge, Mass., police had “acted stupidly” in arresting a black Harvard University professor, Henry Louis Gates Jr. The upshot of that was the White House “beer summit,” in which Mr. Gates and the white arresting officer shared some cold beverages with Mr. Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
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In an interview Wednesday afternoon, shortly after Mr. Vilsack extended his public apology, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Mr. Obama should hold another summit with Ms. Sherrod and the Spooners.
“In the end, it’s such a redemptive storybook ending,” said Mr. Jackson, who has known Charles Sherrod for decades. “I wish that Shirley Sherrod and the Spooner family could be invited to the White House and give them the credit that they’re due, because it is a great American story. A rural white family in Georgia and a black woman, overcoming years of segregation. It would be great if the president were to seize this moment.”
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If you have a critical piece of feedback for us, you can always reach the newsroom via the Reader Center. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | July 2010 | ['(CNN)', '(The Guardian)', '(BBC News)', '(The New York Times)'] |
The Los Angeles Dodgers return to the World Series after a 5–1 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers in game 7 of the National League Championship Series. | Los Angeles Times sports writer Andy McCullough and columnists Dylan Hernandez and Bill Plaschke discuss the Los Angeles Dodgrers winning the NLCS and heading to their second straight World Series.
It has stared at them for a year now, dancing beyond their reach, swaggering around their pain, teasing, taunting, challenging.
On a cold Saturday night at Miller Park, a blue-hot baseball team finally confronted their demon, stuck their chin in its face, and challenged it to another fight.
Welcome back, Dodgers, to the World Series.
Welcome back to your dream. Welcome back to your nightmare.
This time, one more win, OK?
After spending six months investing all their energy in returning to the spot that left them so empty, the Dodgers were rewarded with a second consecutive World Series berth after a 5-1 comeback victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in the deciding Game 7 of the National League Championship Series.
They will play the favored American League champion Boston Red Sox beginning Tuesday in Boston, a tough task, but the Dodgers will revel in it. After losing last year’s World Series to the Houston Astros in Game 7, they spent all season in search of redemption, and they finally earned that chance on a night of rich history and dazzling beauty.
And, oh yeah, also a night of poetic symmetry, as the final score exactly matched the score of last year’s lost World Series Game 7.
“It’s a magical thing,” said co-owner Peter Guber, standing amid the spraying champagne of the Dodgers’ fourth such party in three weeks.
It ended with Clayton Kershaw fittingly on the mound, the ace pitching the ninth inning in relief, his giant figure smothered by hugging and leaping Dodgers who clearly can’t wait to begin the final leg of their journey.
“There was a message in last year’s Game 7, we learned from that as a team, and everybody thought about this moment, getting back to the World Series,” said Chris Taylor.
The franchise’s first consecutive World Series appearances in 40 years was a milestone that crossed time zones. Back in Los Angeles, in the middle of LeBron James’ Staples Center debut, the video board broadcast the final out to a roaring crowd and Randy Newman singing, “I Love L.A.’”
In the joyous Miller Park visiting clubhouse, any singing would have been drowned out by the spraying and screaming and thinking about the next step.
“It’s not a time to take a breath and relax,’’ said Justin Turner. “We’re not satisfied with being there. We want to show up and win four games and be the last team standing.’’
This was the 30th anniversary of the day the Dodgers clinched their last World Series championship, a reminder of the drought that shadows their every move. Yet it was a victory filled with the kind of memories that could allow this bunch to write a new history.
They won with an audacious two-strike bunt single by the constantly booed Manny Machado that led to a two-run homer by Cody Bellinger in the second inning.
“It was unbelievable how he actually got the bunt down, and to think about getting the bunt down,” said Bellinger.
They won with a stunning, lunging, over-the-shoulder catch by Taylor in deep left field to keep the tying run from scoring in in the fifth inning.
“It was a big moment,’’ said Taylor. “I’m just glad I made the play.”
They won with rookie starter Walker Buehler rising up to equal the biggest moment of his young career with one allowed run in 42/3 innings, and kid Julio Urias coming out of nowhere to record the biggest out of his career.
And, of course, this emotionally swinging team couldn’t have done it without Yasiel Puig putting on a nutty show with a game-clinching three-run homer in the sixth inning featuring an accompanying trot filled with a veritable Swiss Army knife of gestures.
He did a crotch chop. He did a throat slash. He did a chest thump. He raised the roof. He danced in the dirt.
It was all in good fun, but there is much more fun to be had, if they can navigate the difficulties awaiting them next week at Fenway Park.
“Great for baseball, two storied franchises going head to head,” said Dodger manager Dave Roberts. “It’s going to be a great series.”
The Red Sox had the best record in baseball this season with 108 wins, 16 more than the Dodgers. The Red Sox breezed through their postseason, winning seven of nine games. The Red Sox will be favored in this series by anybody who has seen them play.
Any of that sound familiar? They sound just like the Dodgers in last season’s World Series against the Houston Astros, no?
So anything can happen, something which the Dodgers proved in this NLCS, a thrill ride featuring memorable highs and striking lows.
“This is definitely a more battle-tested group,” said General Manager Farhan Zaidi. “Last year we kind of cruised through the season and the first two rounds of the playoffs. This year has definitely been more of a grind getting to this point.”
The Dodgers could have clinched this Friday, but suffered a dispirited Game 6 loss, sending them stumbling into Game 7. But once they arrived, they soared.
“We had a lot of doubters along the way, but not in here, nobody doubted us in here,” said Taylor.
After Christian Yelich had given the Brewers a 1-0 lead after with a first-inning homer, Machado led off the second amid deafening boos by taking a huge risk with a two-strike bunt attempt. It was a perfect, the ball crawling toward third base, and he was safe at first with a single.
When Machado stopped running, he endeared himself further to all of Wisconsin by grabbing his crotch, a vile gesture by a bad actor, at which point the fans chanted, “You still suck, you still suck!” But four pitches later, it was all forgotten when Bellinger, who was named the NLCS MVP, drove a pitch into the right-field seats, adding to his game-winning hit in the 13th inning in Game 4.
The lead seemed on the verge of evaporating in the fifth inning after Lorenzo Cain hit a two-out double into the left-field corner, chasing Buehler and bringing in Urias, who pitched in three regular season games while recovering from shoulder surgery.
Yelich greeted Urias with a line shot deep to left-center field, but somehow Taylor was able to chase it down and nab it with an outstretched glove while running and falling with his back to home plate.
It ended the inning and essentially demoralized the Brewers, who never made much of a peep again.
As for that 30th-anniversary stuff, Orel Hershiser, the winning pitcher in that last World Series championship victory against Oakland, recently turned 60. The winning manager, Tom Lasorda, is 91.
That last title was a long time ago. The Dodgers’ close call last October made the drought seem even longer.
Now they have another shot. That’s all they’ve wanted. They played like it on Saturday night. Bring on the demon. Bring on the dream.
The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate in the clubhouse after defeating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 in Game 7 of the 2018 National League Championship Series.
bill.plaschke@latimes.com
Get more of Bill Plaschke’s work and follow him on Twitter @BillPlaschke
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Bill Plaschke has been an L.A. Times columnist since 1996. He has been named national sports columnist of the year eight times by the Associated Press, and twice by the Society of Professional Journalists and National Headliner Awards. He is the author of five books, including a collection of his columns entitled, “Plaschke: Good Sports, Spoil Sports, Foul Ball and Oddballs.” Plaschke is also a panelist on the popular ESPN daily talk show, “Around the Horn.” For his community service, he has been named Man of the Year by the Los Angeles Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and has received a Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center. Plaschke has appeared in a movie (“Ali”), a dramatic HBO series (“Luck”) and, in a crowning cultural moment he still does not quite understand, his name can be found in a rap song “Females Welcome” by Asher Roth. In case you were wondering – and he was – “Plaschke” is rhymed with “Great Gatsby.”
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Ring tapped a network of influencers to promote its cameras. They were LAPD officers
Technology
Ring tapped a network of influencers to promote its cameras. They were LAPD officers
Ring provided at least 100 LAPD officers with free devices or discounts and encouraged them to endorse and recommend its doorbell and security cameras to police and members of the public. June 17, 2021
Politics
Supreme Court saves Obamacare again, rejecting GOP challenge from Texas
Politics
Supreme Court saves Obamacare again, rejecting GOP challenge from Texas
The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 vote, rejects the latest attempt to void Obamacare, including its protections for those with preexisting conditions.
June 17, 2021
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Lakers
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Juneteenth, social justice work and more
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Juneteenth, social justice work and more
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Angels
Shohei Ohtani makes history with announcement of Home Run Derby participation
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Shohei Ohtani makes history with announcement of Home Run Derby participation
Angels dual-threat Shohei Ohtani will participate in the 2021 Home Run Derby. He’s third in the MLB in home runs and will be the first pitcher ever to participate.
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Soccer
Mexico to play two World Cup qualifiers without fans due to use of homophobic chant
Soccer
Mexico to play two World Cup qualifiers without fans due to use of homophobic chant
Mexican soccer federation again urges fans to stop using chant after FIFA hands toughest penalty to date in response to persistent use of anti-gay slur.
48 minutes ago
Dodgers
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Dodgers
He’s the guy the Dodgers traded for Chris Taylor. He hasn’t given up
It’s been five years since the Dodgers traded Zach Lee for Chris Taylor. One is on track to be an All-Star. The other is trying to get on an MLB roster.
June 18, 2021
High School Sports
Meet Trevor Hansen, Royal High pitcher featured in sporting goods TV commercial
High School Sports
Meet Trevor Hansen, Royal High pitcher featured in sporting goods TV commercial
Trevor Hansen is the pitcher in a widely circulated Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial and been dominant in helping Royal High’s deep playoff run. | Sports Competition | October 2018 | ['(The Los Angeles Times)'] |
Israeli Air Force planes carry out a series of air strikes in Syria following an attack on Sunday that caused the death of an Israeli teenager. | Israeli soldiers load shells in their tank following the first death on the Israeli side of the Golan since the Syrian civil war erupted more than three years ago, near the Israeli village of Alonei Habashan, in the area of Tel Hazeka, close to the Quneitra border crossing in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Sunday, June 22, 2014. A civilian vehicle in the Golan Heights was targeted by forces in neighboring Syria on Sunday in an attack that killed a 15-year-old boy and prompted Israeli tanks to retaliate by firing on Syrian government targets, the Israeli military said. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
JERUSALEM (AP) Israeli warplanes bombed a series of targets inside Syria early Monday, the Israeli military said, in response to a cross-border attack that killed an Israeli teenager the previous day.
In all, Israel said it struck nine military targets inside Syria, and "direct hits were confirmed." The targets were located near the site of Sunday's violence in the Golan Heights and included a regional military command center and unspecified "launching positions." There was no immediate response from Syria.
In Sunday's attack, an Israeli civilian vehicle was struck by forces in Syria as it drove in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. A teenage boy was killed and two other people were wounded in the first deadly incident along the volatile Israeli-Syrian front since Syria's civil war erupted more than three years ago. The Israeli vehicle was delivering water as it was doing contract work for Israel's Defense Ministry when it was struck.
"Yesterday's attack was an unprovoked act of aggression against Israel, and a direct continuation to recent attacks that occurred in the area," said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman. He said the military "will not tolerate any attempt to breach Israel's sovereignty and will act in order to safeguard the civilians of the state of Israel."
The sudden burst of violence has added to the tense situation in Israel, where forces have spent the past week and half in a broad ground operation in the West Bank in search of three teenage boys believed to have been abducted by Hamas militants.
Israel has carefully monitored the fighting in Syria, but has generally kept its distance and avoided taking sides. On several occasions, mortar shells and other types of fire have landed on the Israeli side of the de facto border, drawing limited Israeli reprisals. Israel is also believed to have carried out several airstrikes on arms shipments it believed to be headed from Syria to Hezbollah militants in neighboring Lebanon.
It was not immediately clear whether Syrian troops or one of the many rebel groups battling the government carried out Sunday's deadly attack in the Golan. But Lerner said it was clear that the attack was intentional. Israel has repeatedly said it holds the Syrian government responsible for any attacks emanating from its territory, regardless of who actually carries them out.
Israel captured the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel, from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel's annexation of the area has never been recognized internationally.
The incident occurred in the area of Tel Hazeka, near the Quneitra crossing. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian troops had shelled nearby targets on the Syrian border earlier in the day.
Israeli police identified the boy as Mohammed Karaka, 14, of the Arab village of Arraba in northern Israel. Local media said he had accompanied his father, the truck driver, to work.
Late Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke to the boy's father and sent his condolences. "Our enemies don't differentiate between Jews and non-Jews, adults and children," he told an international gathering of Jewish journalists.
In his address, Netanyahu said in conflicts like Syria, where al-Qaida-inspired extremists are battling Iranian-backed Syrian troops, there is no good choice and it is best for Israel to sit back and let its enemies weaken each other. "This is a fault line between civilization and savagery," he said. | Armed Conflict | June 2014 | ['(AP)'] |
An Antonov An-26 of South Supreme Airlines crashes upon landing at Wau Airport, South Sudan, the 43 people on board survived. , | Accident: South Supreme AN26 at Wau on Mar 20th 2017, collided with fire truck on landing
A South Sudan Supreme Airlines Antonov AN-26, registration S9-TLZ performing a flight from Juba to Wau (South Sudan) with 44 passengers and 5 crew, suffered a landing accident at Wau Airport (South Sudan), came to a rest near the first part of runway 27 and burst into flames. All 49 occupants were rescued alive, 17 or 18 have been taken to local hospitals with injuries.Media in South Sudan are reporting all 44 occupants are feared dead, other media in South Sudan report at least 9 survivors have been rescued and taken to local hospitals.Local aid workers in Wau reported, that there has been no fatality, all 44 occupants were rescued alive, 17-18 were injured and have been taken to hospitals.The airline reported there were 40 passengers and 5 crew on board, no further known so far. In the evening the airline reported that due to bad weather the aircraft "missed the line" and collided with a truck of the fire brigades. There were 4 injuries including one crew member, which are still treated in the local hospital.According to various (western) databases including ATDB the airline operates one Fokker 50 registration C5-SSA, which had another accident in Aweil in 2014, see Accident: South Supreme F50 at Aweil on Jan 7th 2014, runway excursion as well as one Antonov AN-32A registration EK-32710.According to Russian databases South Supreme operated two Antonov 26s EK-26310 and EK-26804 (both in South Supreme Colours but listed in storage) and one L-410 5Y-DAD (flying).A local source reported the tail number of the AN-26 probably was S9-TLW or S9-TLZ. On Mar 21st 2017 the local source reported it was confirmed to be a S9 tailnumber, S9-TLZ has been sighted operating at Juba Airport on Mar 21st 2017. The source further reported that the flight crew of a UN aircraft landing prior to the accident aircraft reported the visibility at 800 meters. Photographic evidence by UNMISS however identified S9-TLZ as the accident aircraft.On Apr 20th 2017 Ukraine's NBAAI reported S9-TLZ veered off the runway while landing at Wau, collided with a fire engine and caught fire in the middle of the apron (aircraft parking space). The crew initiated an emergency evacuation, all 49 occupants left the aircraft. The NBAAI is assisting the investigation led by the Republic of South Sudan, the investigation considers the probable version of an engine failure.Only available Metar:HSWW 200600Z 25004 KT 2000 DU 28/ 1012 Security calmS9-TLZ when the fire broke out (Photo: UNMISS):The accident aircraft at Wau Airport (Photo: Bull Maliik):The tail of the aircraft (Photo: Carlos Conceicao):Aircraft in flames (Photo: Adil Faris): | Air crash | March 2017 | ['(The Aviation Herald)', '(CNN)'] |
110 people are injured and 200 people are arrested as anti–gay protesters and police clash in Belgrade at Serbia's first gay pride parade event since 2001. | (CNN) -- Petrol bombs and stones were thrown at police protecting a gay pride march Sunday in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, an interior ministry representative told CNN.
About 40 police officers were injured, and about 60 people were arrested, the ministry's Suzana Vasiljevic told CNN. None of the marchers were injured.
Interior Minister Ivica Dacic had urged people to allow the march to go ahead without incident, Serbia's Tanjug news agency reported Saturday.
"It is very important that the event, which might be disagreeable to most of Serbia's citizens, goes by without incidents," Dacic said in Belgrade.
A gay pride march in 2001 -- thought to be the country's first -- was attacked, resulting in some injuries.
Last year's march was canceled due to security concerns after a wave of anti-gay graffiti appeared before the event, news reports at the time said.
About 1,000 people participated in this year's march, guarded by close to 5,000 police officers, Vasiljevic said. A number of streets were closed for the event, and international diplomats were scheduled to observe it, according to the interior ministry. | Protest_Online Condemnation | October 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Al Jazeera)', '(B92)', '(CNN)', '(Deutsche Welle)'] |
A British Royal Navy sailor is charged with murdering an officer and attempted murder of three crew members aboard a nuclear submarine HMS Astute on Friday night in Southampton. , | British police have charged a Royal Navy officer with murder after a fellow officer was shot dead on a British nuclear-powered submarine, the country's prosecution service confirmed.
Ryan Donovan, 22, was also charged with three counts of attempted murder following Friday's incident on board the HMS Astute, Britain's most advanced submarine.
The attack claimed the life of Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux, 36. A second man, Lieutenant Commander Chris Hodge, 45, is in a stable condition in hospital after being shot.
The shootings happened as local politicians were being shown around the vessel during its five-day visit to the port of Southampton, on the south coast of England.
"I ... have authorised them [the police] to charge Ryan Samuel Donovan with Ian Molyneux's murder and with the attempted murder of Christopher Brown, David McCoy, and Christopher Hodge," said Nick Hawkins, chief prosecutor for the Wessex service, which covers Southampton.
Royston Smith, leader of the local council, tackled the gunman before he could empty his SA80 rifle.
HMS Astute, which is almost 100 metres long, was launched by Prince Charles' wife, Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall, in June 2007 but was only deployed in August last year.
It made headlines two months later in October when it ran aground off the north-west coast of Scotland and had to be towed home.
The submarine was then damaged in a collision with the tug and had to be repaired.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | April 2011 | ['(AP via Yahoo News)', '(AFP via ABC News)'] |
Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman, 20, is convicted of terror offences after attempting to kill guards, attack Theresa May, and blow himself up on Downing Street using fake explosives provided to him in a sting operation. | An Isis fanatic who plotted to bomb Downing Street and behead Theresa May has been convicted of terror offences. Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman was walking down a London road with what he believed was a pressure cooker bomb and a suicide vest when he was arrested.
Spies imitating fellow terrorists had provided the 20-year-old with the fake explosives after a covert operation involving MI5, the FBI and the Metropolitan Police.
Rahman’s plan was to bomb the gates of Downing Street, kill guards, attack the prime minister with a knife or gun and then “martyr” himself with a suicide vest.
The Old Bailey heard Rahman became “determined” to attack the UK after his uncle, an Isis member, was killed by a drone strike in Syria.
Two of Rahman’s other uncles had been convicted for terrorist fundraising, and police said that as a teenager he was referred to the government’s Prevent counter-extremism scheme, but “disengaged” from the process.
Counter terror police did not start investigating Rahman until he was arrested and had his phone seized in August 2017, on suspicion of sending indecent images to underage girls.
Deputy assistant commissioner Dean Haydon, the senior national coordinator for counter terrorism policing, said: “It was apparent from the content of that phone that Rahman had received attack planning instructions from his uncle in Syria, so as a result we commenced a counter terrorism investigation.
“In the absence of his uncle, Rahman sought the assistance and advice of people online, and in doing so unwittingly made contact with an FBI roleplayer in early September 2017, who in turn introduced him to an MI5 roleplayer.”
The British agent introduced Rahman to two men, codenamed Abu Waleed and Shaq covert officers who pretended to support Rahman’s plot while feeding intelligence on his movements and activities to police.
In one meeting with Shaq, Rahman was recorded saying he would get past Downing Street’s gates and make a “10-second sprint” for the door of Number 10, with his main objective to “take her head off”.
He later carried out reconnaissance around Whitehall, prosecutors said, walking past the entrance to Downing Street and the site of the Westminster attack, at the gate of the Houses of Parliament in March 2017.
Mr Rahman also bought a rucksack in Argos which he gave to a spy to be fitted with explosives.
On 28 November, Shaq handed the defendant back his bag and jacket claiming they were both fitted with powerful explosives, as well as a replica pepper spray device, a set of plastic gloves and a blue holdall bag. Asked if he was ready, Rahman replied: “Yeah. Do you know? Now I’ve seen everything it feels good.”
Armed police were stationed down the same road in Kensington and swarmed Rahman minutes later, when he told an officer: “I’m glad it’s over. I’m glad I’m arrested.”
Deputy assistant commissioner Haydon said Rahman had been developing shifting terror attack plans for two years, considering using a gun before settling on a “multifaceted attack” using a bomb, suicide vest, pepper spray and knife. “As Rahman left Shaq’s car, I have no doubt he was thinking about his very real plans to kill the prime minister in support of Daesh,” he added.
“We have successfully stopped a terrorist attack in the UK… if he’d got hold of a genuine bomb, gun and knife, we would have been talking about an attack that would have killed, injured and maimed a number of people in Whitehall, including police officers and members of the public.”
Rahman had consumed propaganda from Isis, al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood and jihadi ideologues.
He admitted helping friend and fellow extremist Mohammad Aqib Imran in his attempt to join Isis in Libya, by recording a video intended to be used after Rahman’s “martyrdom” to gain the group’s trust.
Imran, a 22-year-old from Birmingham, was found guilty of having a terrorist handbook called How to Survive in the West after the jury deliberated for 13 hours.
The jury is still deliberating on a charge against Imran of preparing terrorist acts abroad.
The pair, both British nationals, had discussed their fear of “spies” and not being able to trust anyone, the court heard.
Imran, who was arrested on the same day as Rahman, had allegedly set about gathering money and acquiring a fake passport for his trip from another MI5 role-player via encrypted instant messaging service Telegram.
Asked why police launched a covert operation rather than arresting Rahman when they found evidence of attack planning on his phone, Mr Haydon said the suspect was detained at the “appropriate time”.
“We maintained a covert operation to fully understand his aspirations, his intentions, and capability, which enabled us to control that risk,” he added.
Rahman’s defence barrister told the Old Bailey his client was vulnerable and had been “sofa surfing” after his mum kicked him out of her home.
The family had lived in the West Midlands until she moved them to London in what police said was an effort to lessen the influence of Rahman’s extremist uncles.
Rahman was said to have lived a “solitary life”, where he focused almost entirely on his plot and communicating with other extremists.
It was unclear whether he had been subjected to monitoring by another police force after he dropped out of the voluntary Channel counter-extremism process, which also attempted to deradicalise the Parsons Green bomber.
Police said Rahman “gave a story” to officials who visited his family home in late 2016.
“When Rahman was 18 years old he was referred to the voluntary Channel programme, following concerns that he was vulnerable to radicalisation by three of his uncles,” Mr Haydon said.
“Numerous attempts were made to engage Rahman through Channel but he was unwilling, and by the time he came to the attention of the counter terrorism network for his terrorist plans, he had disengaged from the process completely.”
Rahman will be sentenced at a later date. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | July 2018 | ['(The Independent)'] |
In Major League Baseball, the San Francisco Giants defeat the Detroit Tigers in game four of the 2012 World Series, sweeping the Tigers and winning their second World Series in three years. Pablo Sandoval is named World Series MVP. | DETROIT -- Navigating the narrow confines of the visitors clubhouse inside the Detroit ballpark can be challenging, particularly when the hallway and rooms are as full as the Tokyo subway at rush hour with champagne-wielding teammates and family, plus microphone-shoving, path-blocking reporters.
And you're built like Pablo Sandoval.
And you're carrying a large, glittering MVP World Series trophy under one arm.
"I'm excited, man, I'm excited!" Sandoval shouted to a wall of cameramen and writers halting his already slow progress. "This is my second championship in three years but I earned this one more."
When the Giants won the World Series in 2010, Sandoval struggled so much that he played only one game that series and went hitless in three at-bats. This time, he hit three home runs in his first three at-bats and finished with a .500 average. "You learn from the things that happen in your career," he said. "You get up and down. You never give up. All the things that happened in my career, thank God it happened early rather than late. I'm just blessed to be here and be part of the 2012 World Series. ...
"I'm going to ask my brother to pinch me so that I can wake up from this dream."
Sandoval certainly was a deserving MVP winner but there were several other Giants who could have won as well. Asked whom he would award the MVP, Sandoval instantly replied, "Barry Zito. Barry did a great job. For him to come back to the roster and start the first game of the World Series and win, it was a big deal."
Like Sandoval, Zito had a poor 2010 season, and the Giants left him off the postseason roster. He spent the World Series that year on the bench, cheering his teammates. This time, the Giants kept him on the roster and started him against Detroit's Justin Verlander. Few gave Zito much chance in a matchup against the reigning Cy Young winner that night but he instead held the Tigers to one run in 5 1/3 innings. By beating the Tigers' ace in the opener, the Giants grabbed a crucial series advantage that loomed far larger than the 1-0 lead.
"This is apples and oranges compared to 2010," Zito said. "You certainly want to be part of a team that wins a World Series, and to contribute in the regular season is great, but to go out there on the big stage and help the team get to [the] next level -- and vice-versa -- it's something that you can't put words to."
Zito's example in the 2010 World Series -- teammates say he never complained and never let his disappointment show -- played a part in the way Tim Lincecum handled his move to the bullpen this October. Approaching the role in a positive way, Lincecum became a weapon out of the bullpen, blowing away batters in the middle innings of two games. The Tigers not only had to get past San Francisco's tremendous starters, but they had to get past the bullpen. And Detroit never did.
Or perhaps the award could have gone to catcher Buster Posey, who missed most of last season after a collision at home plate fractured his leg. He came back with an MVP-caliber season, then made a crucial sweep tag on Prince Fielder in Game 2 to save at least a run and probably more. He also hit a two-run homer in Game 4.
Or perhaps it could have gone to left fielder Gregor Blanco. At this time last year, Blanco didn't have a contract with a major league organization. "I was just waiting for an opportunity," he said. The Giants gave him that opportunity, and Blanco rewarded them when he replaced Melky Cabrera when the outfielder was suspended.
Blanco had an RBI triple that gave the Giants the lead in Game 3 but it was his defense that really shined. While Detroit center fielder Austin Jackson twice refrained from diving and let balls drop just in front of him for run-scoring singles, Blanco made several diving catches and had a fine running grab in the corner in foul ground in Game 3.
Or maybe the MVP could have been manager Bruce Bochy. Until recent years, he's been best known nationwide for having the largest head in baseball of any non-PED user. But with two world championships in three years -- plus a World Series appearance in San Diego -- he's shown that head also holds a fine managerial mind.
"Bochy is an unbelievable person," right fielder Hunter Pence said. "He's great at setting the environment and giving everyone a chance to succeed."
Or perhaps the award could have gone to Game 3 winner Ryan Vogelsong, who started his career with the Giants, only to wind up pitching in Japan before finding his way back to San Francisco. Or perhaps second baseman Marco Scutaro, who singled in the 10th inning Sunday to score the player he replaced this season -- Ryan Theriot -- with the series-winning run.
"You know what, when Theriot wasn't playing, I told him, sincerely, he could be the hero," center fielder Angel Pagan said. "It's happened so many times before. Here, anyone can be a hero."
Indeed. Just look at shortstop Brandon Crawford. Crawford is from the Bay Area, and his parents have been Giants season-ticket holders for many years. His name is even on a commemorative brick outside the Giants' ballpark that his parents bought a dozen years ago. He sat in the stands at the 2002 World Series when the Giants lost. When they won this World Series, it was partially due to his extraordinary fielding at shortstop.
As people squeezed by him in the narrow doorway of his boyhood team's clubhouse and while celebratory champagne dripped from his hair, a representative of the Hall of Fame asked Crawford whether he could have his cap so it could be displayed at Cooperstown. "Pretty cool," Crawford said.
Quick, get Sandoval's brother to pinch Crawford right after "Panda." Then they both will realize they aren't dreaming. They are simply on top of the world. | Sports Competition | October 2012 | ['(ESPN)', '(ESPN)'] |
A former Central Intelligence Agency agent reveals the CIA sent a team to Afghanistan only days after the September 11, 2001 attacks with orders to "Capture Bin Laden, kill him and bring his head back in a box on dry ice" and to leave other Al-Qaeda leaders' "heads up on pikes." | Gary Schroen flew out soon after the attacks on New York and Washington, helping to set up the 2001 invasion, he told US National Public Radio.
He recalled his orders from the CIA's counter-terrorism chief.
"Capture Bin Laden, kill him and bring his head back in a box on dry ice," he quoted Cofer Black as saying.
As for other leaders of Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan, Mr Black reportedly said: "I want their heads up on pikes." Contacted by the radio network, Mr Black would not confirm that these were his exact words but he did not dispute Mr Schroen's account.
I don't know what I'll do about dry ice to bring the head back - but we'll manage something
Gary Schroen to his commander
The agent told NPR he had been stunned that, for the first time in 30 years of service, he had received orders to kill targets rather than capture them.
But he says he replied: "Sir, those are the clearest orders I have ever received. "I can certainly make pikes out in the field but I don't know what I'll do about dry ice to bring the head back - but we'll manage something."
One more mission
Mr Schroen, 59 when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, had just begun the CIA's retirement transition programme but he was asked to put it on hold two days after the attacks of 11 September 2001.
MISSION EQUIPMENT
Laptops and hand-held radios
$3m in $100-bills
Instant coffee
As a former station chief in both Kabul and Islamabad, he was considered to be ideally placed for the Afghan mission.
According to NPR, there was no doubt at CIA headquarters that the 9/11 attacks were the work of Bin Laden.
Mr Schroen was given a double brief, it reported: to liaise with anti-Taleban warlords on the ground as preparation for the overthrow of the regime, and to then assassinate Bin Laden and other top al-Qaeda figures.
The agency allowed Mr Schroen to pick his own six-man team and, exactly one week after 9/11, they were on a plane flying to the region, equipped with laptops, hand-held radios, instant coffee and $3m in $100 bills.
Mr Schroen has released memoirs called First In, a reference to the fact that he and his team were the first US government personnel on the ground.
He says he is surprised that the CIA has still not managed to track down Bin Laden after nearly four years. | Armed Conflict | May 2005 | ['(CIA)', '(BBC)', '(Wikinews)'] |
David Beckham tears his Achilles tendon in a match for A.C. Milan. He is ruled out for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. | MILAN (Reuters) - David Beckham's World Cup hopes looked to be all but over after the England midfielder went off with a suspected ruptured Achilles tendon late in AC Milan's 1-0 Serie A win over Chievo on Sunday.
Beckham was getting ready to kick a ball unchallenged when he suddenly pulled up and signalled to the bench despite second-placed Milan having used all their substitutes.
| Sports Competition | March 2010 | ['(The Times)', '(The New York Times)', '(Houston Chronicle)', '(CNN)'] |
Singer Cheryl Cole is diagnosed with malaria after fainting. | The X Factor judge remains in London's private Cromwell Hospital, where her close friend Derek Hough has been at her bedside.
The 27-year-old contracted the disease on her trip to Tanzania with the US dancer and was diagnosed despite taking malaria tablets.
She and Hough spent six days together on Africa's east coast last month following her split from England footballer Ashley.
The singer is reported to have collapsed dramatically with suspected gastroenteritis during a photoshoot for her album on Saturday afternoon, when she was initially diagnosed with exhaustion.
But she was rushed to hospital the next day after her symptoms, including a soaring fever, dramatically worsened.
Cole, who has been filming the audition stage of ITV talent show The X Factor, has now pulled out of work commitments for the coming days on the advice of doctors.
If not treated promptly, malaria can become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs.
It is caused by the parasite plasmodium, which is transmitted by the bites of infected mosquitos. Symptoms include headaches, fever and vomiting.
Cole, who has been supporting Black Eyed Peas on tour and is scheduled to play high-profile shows at next month's V Festival, also visited east Africa last year when she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief.
"Following doctors' advice she will be cancelling all work commitments for the next week."
An X Factor spokesman was unavailable for comment.
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Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today. | Famous Person - Sick | July 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(The Independent)'] |
More than 30 political prisoners go on hunger strike at Insein Prison in Burma to protest against their treatment. | BANGKOK - NEARLY 30 political prisoners in Myanmar are on a hunger strike to demand better treatment and to protest against a recent 'sham amnesty', a pressure group said on Tuesday. The US Campaign for Burma (USCB) said seven women in Yangon's Insein jail began the strike a week ago in response to a clemency programme that outraged critics for failing to include most political detainees. On Monday, 22 male prisoners - including three Buddhist monks - joined the hunger strike, with a six-point list of demands such as better living conditions and improved family visiting rights. 'Prisons in Burma are a known living hell,' said Aung Din, executive director of the Washington-based USCB, who himself served over four years as a political prisoner in Myanmar - also known as Burma. 'There is no adequate or sufficient food supply, no clean water, no proper medical treatment and no liveable environment. Prison cells and halls are full of mosquitoes, bed bugs, flies, ants and other insects,' he said in a statement. 'Prison guards treat the prisoners like animals under their command.' -- AFP | Protest_Online Condemnation | May 2011 | ['(Straits Times)', '(BBC)'] |
The Islamic State loses control of three towns in the area around Al-Asharah to local tribesmen. | Tribesmen in three villages in eastern Syria have driven out Islamic State (IS) militants, in a rare display of local resistance to the group. Four days of fighting left nine IS fighters, three tribesmen and five civilians dead, UK-based Syrian opposition activists say.
The jihadists' actions in the Ashara area had bred resentment locally, another activist based in Turkey said. In neighbouring Iraq, IS fighters fought Kurdish forces at Zumar.
IS is dedicated to building an Islamist state in Syria and Iraq.
It built on its gains in Syria this summer to sweep through western and northern Iraq with support from local Sunni Muslims, overrunning the city of Mosul and threatening the capital Baghdad.
In recent weeks, it also expanded territory under its control in Syria, capturing parts of the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor.
Formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis), it has been accused of atrocities in areas under its control, carrying out mass executions of Shia Muslim prisoners and forcing out other non-Muslims such as Mosul's ancient Christian community.
Fighting erupted on Wednesday after IS detained three tribesmen, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Turkish-based activist Mustafa Osso said.
The detentions apparently broke an agreement with local people in the villages of Kishkiyeh, Abu Hamam and Granij, and tribesmen torched the IS headquarters in Ashara in retaliation, the Observatory said.
IS reportedly rushed in reinforcements from the Iraqi border town of Qaim but were forced out of the villages.
Tribesmen also captured the nearby Tanak oil field, according to the Observatory.
"There has been wide resentment recently because of Islamic State's acts," Mr Osso told AP news agency.
"This is a very important area for Islamic State because it is rich with oil and borders Iraq."
IS is one of the larger groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. More than 150,000 people have been killed in Syria and more than nine million have been forced to leave their homes since the uprising against Mr Assad began in March 2011.
In Iraq, jihadists attacked Kurdish forces in Zumar on Friday and fighting has continued since, with at least 14 Kurds and an unknown number of IS fighters killed. There were conflicting reports on whether Kurdish peshmerga fighter or IS forces held the town.
"Many Islamic State vehicles are wandering the town of Zumar and I can also see the flags on top of buildings," on resident told Reuters news agency.
Control of Zumar would give the jihadists access to a small oilfield and nearby refinery, adding to four oil fields they have already seized, according to Reuters.
Kurdish forces have become the only effective opposition to IS in northern Iraq since government troops were driven out of Mosul and other areas in June.
Reports say Islamic State fighters were also involved in deadly clashes overnight with Iraqi troops in the mainly Sunni town of Jurf al-Sakhar, 50km south-west of Baghdad.
At least nine soldiers are said to have been killed.
IS in power
Islamic State's driving force Syria's refugee exodus
Resigned to Assad reality
| Armed Conflict | August 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
The government threatens a crackdown as the protests spread. | Hundreds of demonstrators marched on parliament from the epicentre of the uprising in Cairo’s Tahrir Square the day after the largest protests since the revolt began, as other demonstrations erupted in cities across the country. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit warned the army, until now a respected and mostly neutral force on Cairo’s streets, would intervene to protect the country if the protests against President Hosni Mubarak escalated. “If chaos occurs, the armed forces will intervene to control the country, a step... which would lead to a very dangerous situation,” the official MENA news agency said, paraphrasing Abdul Gheit’s interview with Arabic-language satellite television channel Al-Arabiya. His remarks came after newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman warned of a possible “coup” in the absence of a peaceful transfer of power. The protesters however showed no sign of backing down on their demand for Mubarak’s overthrow as tens of thousands of people filled Cairo’s Tahrir Square well into the third week of a revolt that could reshape the Middle East. Around a thousand marched on parliament to demand its members’ resignation, vowing to remain until the legislature — widely seen as unfairly dominated by the ruling party — is dissolved. The night before they had been joined by several hundred thousand supporters for the biggest rallies yet in the two-week-old drive to topple the autocratic president and replace his 30-year-old US-backed regime. On Wednesday, volunteers were building portable toilets, indicating the protesters have no intention of leaving the “liberated” square, now a sprawling tent city with sound stages, flag vendors and a mobile phone charging station. In a sign the protests were widening beyond Cairo, unrest gripped the remote oasis of Kharga, where at least five people were killed and 100 wounded when security forces opened fire on demonstrators, a security official told AFP. In the Suez Canal city of Port Said, some 3,000 protesters stormed a government building, torching office furniture and the governor’s car. In the southern town of Assiut, some 4,000 protesters blocked a railway with wooden planks and bricks and shut down a major highway with burning tyres. Several smaller strikes broke out in Cairo and the Nile Delta to the north, where textile workers demanded higher wages and better conditions. The 82-year-old Mubarak has charged Suleiman, his longtime intelligence chief, with drawing selected opposition groups into negotiations on democratic reform before elections due in September. Some parties have joined the talks, but the crowds in Tahrir Square insist that Mubarak must go before they will halt the protest. Suleiman, however, warned that the transition must be slow and orderly. “The second, alternative way would be a coup — and we want to avoid that — meaning uncalculated and hasty steps that produce more irrationality,” he warned Egyptian news editors. Protesters in Tahrir said they were unmoved by Suleiman’s remarks and vowed to remain in the square until their demands are met. “He is acting as they’ve been acting with us for 30 years. The same talk, the same lies,” said Neven al-Sergany, a 44-year-old teacher. “I don’t think I will leave. The people here are so determined.” The Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s best organised opposition group despite a half century of illegality, meanwhile moved to reassure observers who fear an Islamist takeover should Mubarak’s regime be toppled. “The Muslim Brotherhood does not seek power. We do not want to participate at the moment,” senior leader Mohammed Mursi told reporters, adding that the movement would not field a presidential candidate. The United States is watching events in the most populous Arab country with great concern, hoping the transition to elected rule can take place without a descent into violence, or an Islamist or military takeover. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the government had yet to meet the “minimum threshold” of reform demanded by Egyptians. Suleiman’s proposed transition process “does not appear to be in line with the people of Egypt. We believe that more has to be done,” he said, adding that it was not for the United States to dictate the shape of reforms. In another sign the regime has not gone far enough, Culture Minister Gaber Asfour — appointed just nine days ago in a cabinet shake-up prompted by the revolt — resigned for “medical reasons.”
| Protest_Online Condemnation | February 2011 | ['(Khaleej Times)', '(Voice of America)'] |
Representatives of Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement reach a tentative peace settlement in negoations in Helsinki, Finland. They intend to sign a formal truce in August 15. | At the end of a meeting in Finland on Sunday, the two sides agreed a draft deal to end the 29-year insurgency.
The government and rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (Gam) had agreed to sign the truce at a ceremony on 15 August.
But questions remain over the issue of political representation, which has proved a sticking point throughout.
During talks earlier in the week Gam abandoned its demand for Acehnese independence in return for a certain amount of autonomy and greater access to the region's rich natural resources, and both sides agreed to establish an Aceh monitoring mission, overseen by experts from
Gam rebels have been fighting for an independent state
But the main difficulty has been the rebels' request for participation in local Acehnese politics.
It appears the government may have acquiesced to this demand, but is still unclear whether the accord will allow Gam to form its own Aceh-based party - and if so, when.
"A local party would need a change in the law, that would need the agreement of the parliament," Mr Kalla told reporters in Jakarta on Sunday. "The government will try as hard as it can to create the political and legal situation in support of that." Under current legislation, every political party in Indonesia must have representation in at least half of the country's 33 provinces, and have its headquarters in Jakarta. Analysts say that any exception to that rule could lead to demands from other separatist groups elsewhere in Indonesia, which some Indonesian officials - especially among the military - fear could spark further attempts at secession from Jakarta. Cautious optimism
In Aceh itself - where more than 120,000 people died in the 26 December tsunami - opinions on the peace deal are divided.
15,000 people have been killed in three decades of conflict
"I hope that both sides will respect this agreement," said Dian, one of many Acehnese who lost several family members in the tsunami. "All we want here is to live peacefully and free, to go anywhere we want and be able to express our opinions," she told the Associated Press.
But others remembered that the last peace deal, brokered in late 2002, fell apart soon afterwards with each side blaming the other for not sticking to the agreement.
"All this is only promises, just like the promises from previous negotiations," newspaper agent Joni Sukandar told Reuters news agency on Monday. | Sign Agreement | July 2005 | ['(Jakarta Post)', '(Reuters)', '(Reuters AlertNet)', '(BBC)'] |
In India 1000 demonstrators protesting attack in Ayodhya clash with riot police in New Delhi. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. There are small protests in other cities as well but police state that disturbances are minor compared to clashes in previous years. Congress president Sonia Gandhi warns that opposition should not "politicize" the incident , (Link dead as of 04:20, 16 January 2007 ), | Police fired water cannon to disperse about 1,000 activists in Delhi. Six people were injured in Hindu-Muslim clashes in the eastern city of Ranchi.
Police are on high alert across India to prevent religious unrest. No group has claimed Tuesday's attack on the Ayodhya holy complex. One gunman blew himself up and police killed the others in a two-hour gun battle.
India won't tolerate an attack on the birthplace of Ram Protester's placard In pictures: Ayodhya protests Advani faces Ayodhya trial The BBC's Sanjeev Srivastava in Ayodhya says there is a mood of uneasy calm in the town, where a strike has closed most shops and businesses.
He says the consequences would have been disastrous if civilians had been harmed or the religious site damaged.
In 1992 Hindu nationalists tore down the Babri mosque in Ayodhya in northern Uttar Pradesh state, sparking Hindu-Muslim riots in which at least 2,000 people were killed.
'Symbol' attacked The authorities have appealed for calm and security has been stepped up at government and military facilities and religious sites all over India as a precaution.
Protests briefly shut the airport in the central city of Indore. Police made about 30 arrests after 30 Hindu activists damaged an airport lounge. The wreckage of the jeep used to blow a hole in the Ayodhya fence
A strike called by India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was being observed in Ayodhya on Wednesday, but the response was patchy elsewhere. BJP leader LK Advani told demonstrators in Delhi that the Ayodhya site had been attacked because it was "a symbol of cultural nationalism".
He accused the government of security failures.
"Down, down Pakistan," the crowd shouted, before they were dispersed by police firing tear gas and water cannon.
Hindu activists blame Islamic militants who they say were supported by Pakistan for Tuesday's attack. The authorities have yet to say who they suspect the gunmen were, although the government has called them "terrorists". Pakistan has denied any role in the raid and India says the incident should not affect talks with its neighbour.
Police say they have recovered three AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades at the site.
One of the attackers apparently blew himself up in a jeep laden with explosives in order to blow a hole in the fence of the complex.
The five other attackers poured through the gap, before being surrounded by armed police.
The bloodshed that followed the destruction of the Babri mosque was viewed as the most serious threat to India's secular identity since independence in 1947.
Hindu hardliners say the mosque was built on a temple to the Hindu god Ram. The site is now one of the most heavily guarded in the country. The BJP has called demonstrations to push for the construction of a permanent Hindu permanent temple at the Ayodhya complex.
Mr Advani is one of a number of Hindu leaders accused of inciting the mob which destroyed the mosque. On Wednesday, the High Court in Allahabad ruled he should stand trial for his alleged role in the violence. A lower court had earlier exonerated him. | Protest_Online Condemnation | July 2005 | ['(Newindpress)', '(registration required)', '(Reuters India)', '(UTC)', '(BBC)'] |
The United Nations will send home 108 of the 950 Sri Lankan peacekeepers in Haiti, accusing them of sexual abuse, including with underage girls. | The UN said the troops had paid for sex and that some of the girls were minors.
UN peacekeepers have been involved in a series of sex-abuse scandals, including this year in Ivory Coast, where 800 were suspended.
The organisation said it had a "zero tolerance" policy but it was up to the supplying nations to discipline troops.
A 2005 UN report suggested a central disciplining policy but member nations could not agree.
'Low standards'
A total of 108 of the Sri Lankan peacekeepers are being sent home.
The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and the Sri Lankan authorities had overseen the investigation.
UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said: "The United Nations and the Sri Lankan government deeply regret any sexual exploitation and abuse that has occurred."
She added: "The [soldiers] are back under national jurisdiction. So far Sri Lanka has said... that they are going to be prosecuted in Sri Lanka."
The UN was working to help the victims of the abuse, she said.
Member states are supplying about 100,000 troops to peacekeeping operations worldwide.
In recent years, peacekeepers in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo have also been accused of sexual exploitation.
In July, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, said the standards for selecting peacekeepers were too low. Mr Nowak said concerns about the quality, training and ethics of peacekeepers were growing. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | November 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
Youths in Algeria riot for a second night in unrest over social and political grievances. | Fresh rioting has broken out in the Algerian capital and several other cities, after days of unrest over food price increases and unemployment.
Police fired tear gas and used water cannon on stone-throwing youths following Friday prayers in Algiers.
The riots have been linked to rising food prices, housing shortages, and wider social and political grievances.
Government ministers called for calm, while earlier the football federation cancelled all this weekend's matches.
Football stadiums are one of the only places where people publicly voice their political frustrations, and matches are seen a potential catalyst for protests.
The Youth and Sports Minister, Hachemi Djiar, appealed for calm, saying "violence has never had results, not in Algeria or anywhere else, and our youth know that".
Algeria "has the means to take care of its youth and that is what it is doing through various development projects", the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.
The BBC's Mohamed Arezki Himeur in Algiers says there has been sporadic rioting in Algeria since the new year, when the price of many food products increased sharply.
But the protests intensified on Wednesday and Thursday, our correspondent says. The riots also spread to Bab el-Oued, a working class district of the capital that was at the centre of the protest movement in 1988, at the beginning of a period of unrest that led to an Islamist insurgency in the 1990s.
Overnight, protesters ransacked government buildings, banks and post offices in "several eastern cities", including Constantine, Jijel, Setif and Bouira, according to the official APS news agency.
The unrest resumed on Friday despite the presence of riot police armed with tear gas and batons outside mosques in Algiers and along its main streets.
In the Belcourt district, youths threw stones at police after Friday prayers and set up road blocks, Reuters news agency reported.
Clashes also erupted for the first time in Annaba, about 550km (350 miles) east of the capital, where hundreds of people threw stones at police deployed outside government offices, according to AFP.
It added that violence took place in Tizi Ouzou, the main city of Algeria's Kabylia region, about 90km east of Algiers. There was also fresh violence reported in Algeria's second city of Oran.
The riots are widely seen as drawing on deep frustrations with the ruling elite and a lack of political freedom, as well as more immediate concerns about the cost of living, housing, and jobs.
The prices of flour, cooking oil and sugar have doubled in the past few months. Trade Minister Mustapha Benbada said government officials would meet on Saturday to find ways to limit the costs of basic food items.
The official unemployment rate meanwhile stands at about 10%, although independent organisations say it is closer to 25%.
The riots in Algeria follow a period of rare unrest in neighbouring Tunisia.
As in Algeria, the unrest has been linked to frustrations with the president and the ruling elite, as well as to concerns over jobs and living costs.
| Riot | January 2011 | ['(BBC)', '(Al Jazeera)', '(Africa News)'] |
Six people in Honduras, four in Nicaragua and three in El Salvador died after heavy floods triggered by Hurricane Michael affected Central America. Several others are injured and at least one is missing. | Hurricane Michael - a category four storm with winds reaching 155mph (250km/h) - has made landfall in Florida's north-west Panhandle region.
According to the National Hurricane Center, the eye of the storm touched land near Mexico Beach, Florida, on Wednesday afternoon.
Hundreds of thousands were told to evacuate but many have not fled.
Florida Governor Rick Scott warned of "unimaginable devastation", saying it would be the worst storm in 100 years.
At least 13 people reportedly died in Central America over the weekend as a result of storm rains and floods.
According to the Associated Press, six people were killed in Honduras, four in Nicaragua and three in El Salvador.
Michael is expected to move quickly up the US East Coast, dumping rains on regions that are already saturated from Hurricane Florence last month.
In their latest advisory, the National Hurricane Center warned coastal residents "not to venture out into the relative calm of the eye, as hazardous winds will increase very quickly as the eye passes".
More than 370,000 people in Florida have been ordered to evacuate and move to higher ground, but officials estimate that far fewer have actually left.
"Do not leave your house," Florida Governor Rick Scott said on Wednesday, hours before landfall.
"The worst thing you can do now is leave," he said, adding that those who do "put yourself and your family in danger".
Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Brock Long told the president at the White House that he was especially concerned about buildings that were built before 2001, and are not able to withstand category three winds.
"We just hope those the structures can hold up. And if not, that they're not in those structures," Mr Trump responded.
Florida has declared a state of emergency, as have Alabama and Georgia. Images on social media show scenes of flooding and wind damage.
Just happened. Expect to see more of this throughout the day in our area. Clement E Taylor Park #hurricanemicheal #Destin. pic.twitter.com/MNr1wjcYo4
Gulf waters covering most of beach this am #HurricaneMichael #PCB @wmbbjustin @Whitleyweather @TylerAllender @smithwjhg @SamLuceyWX @NWSTallahassee @weatherchannel @The_News_Herald pic.twitter.com/3hdPSQrKZw
The hurricane made landfall at around 14:00 (18:00 GMT), according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).
The NHC warned of a life-threatening storm surge, hurricane force winds and heavy rainfall along the north-eastern Gulf coast.
It said some regions of Florida may experience storm surges of up to 14ft (4m).
And "life-threatening" flash floods may occur as a result of up to 12in (30cm) of rain.
On the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, category four includes winds of up to 156mph with possible severe damage to even well-built homes and trees being felled.
A guide to the world's deadliest storms
Hurricanes are violent storms that can bring devastation to coastal areas, threatening lives, homes and businesses.
Hurricanes develop from thunderstorms, fuelled by warm, moist air as they cross sub-tropical waters. Warm air rises into the storm.
Air swirls in to fill the low pressure in the storm, sucking air in and upwards, reinforcing the low pressure.
The storm rotates due to the spin of the earth and energy from the warm ocean increases wind speeds as it builds.
When winds reach 119km/h (74mph), it is known as a hurricane - in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific - or a typhoon in the Western Pacific.
"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. Well, we're about to get punched in the face." Florida Mayor Bob Buckhorn, ahead of Hurricane Irma (2017)
The central eye of calmer weather is surrounded by a wall of rainstorms.This eyewall has the fastest winds below it and violent currents of air rising through it.
A mound of water piles up below the eye which is unleashed as the storm reaches land. These storm surges can cause more damage from flooding than the winds.
"Urgent warning about the rapid rise of water on the SW FL coast with the passage of #Irma's eye. MOVE AWAY FROM THE WATER!"Tweet from the National Hurricane Center
The size of hurricanes is mainly measured by the Saffir-Simpson scale - other scales are used in Asia Pacific and Australia.
Winds 119-153km/hSome minor flooding, little structural damage. Storm surge +1.2m-1.5m
Winds 154-177km/hRoofs and trees could be damaged. Storm surge +1.8m-2.4m
Winds 178-208km/hHouses suffer damage, severe flooding Storm surge +2.7m-3.7m
Hurricane Sandy (2012) caused $71bn damage in the Caribbean and New York
Winds 209-251km/hSome roofs destroyed and major structural damage to houses. Storm surge +4m-5.5m
Hurricane Ike (2008) hit Caribbean islands and Louisiana and was blamed for at least 195 deaths
Winds 252km/h+Serious damage to buildings, severe flooding further inland. Storm surge +5.5m
Hurricane Irma (2017) caused devastation in Caribbean islands, leaving thousands homeless
"For everyone thinking they can ride this storm out, I have news for you: that will be one of the biggest mistakes you can make in your life." Mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin ahead of Hurricane Gustav, 2008
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Schools and state offices in the area are to remain shut this week.
On Wednesday, Gov Scott said he had activated 3,500 Florida National Guard troops.
Heavy rains are forecast for the Carolinas, which were drenched by Hurricane Florence last month.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told residents: "I know people are fatigued from Florence, but don't let this storm catch you with your guard down."
More than 300 miles of coastline are currently under threat, the National Weather Service has said. Forecasters in Alabama have warned of possible tornados. By BBC's Gary O'Donoghue in Florida
Driving through the streets of Panama City Beach this morning, there were almost no other cars on the road. Here and there the odd neon sign still glowed, but many houses and businesses were boarded up after an emergency evacuation order.
Not everyone though had heeded the instruction.
Dave Jackson, a man who remembers the devastation of Hurricane Andrew in southern Florida 26 years ago, has decided to stay, despite having a home just yards from the beach.
His house, he says, is built to withstand winds of 150mph and it's just high enough above sea level that the predicted surge may well fall short.
Just along the road, Stacey and Michael Buckner sit in their car, staring out to sea. Their house is two blocks from the water, and they've chosen not to leave because of Michael's elderly parents. For the coming hours, Dave, Michael and Stacey are on their own - the emergency services are staying out of the storm and nature is about to take its course.
Communities along the Florida Panhandle will feel the brunt of the hurricane first, with Tallahassee and Panama City Beach forecast to get over 6in of rain and winds that could reach at least 100mph.
Utility lines are expected to be damaged due to falling trees, leading to power outages.
But by Thursday, the storm will move up the coast and skies will clear allowing for "a massive wave of response and support", said Gov Scott.
Southern Georgia will be hit next, with residents there warned to brace for possible flash floods.
Winds will die down as Michael pushes north into the soggy Carolinas with cities Columbia and Charlotte each forecasted to see up to 5in of rain.
Local officials warn people in the regions affected by Hurricane Florence last month - even those living far from waterways - to watch for landslides or flash flooding.
Hurricane Michael: Storm hits Florida coast
How do hurricanes form?
| Floods | October 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
Stock markets in Asia, Australia, and the United States fall further after the credit rating of the United States is downgraded with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling by over 634 points, 5.55%. | LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks opened to sharp losses Monday, with financials and exporter shares all among the leading decliners after Standard & Poor's ratings agency downgraded U.S. sovereign debt late Friday. The Nikkei Stock Average lost 1.2% to 9.190.86, while the Topix was down 1.4% at 789.70. Financial stocks were well sold, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. 8306,
-2.49%
MTU,
+7.14%
down 2.1%, Shinsei Bank Ltd. 8303,
-4.26%
SKLKF,
-6.57%
falling 3.3%, Tokyo-listed shares in Citigroup Inc. JP:8710
C,
-1.82%
losing 5.5%, and Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. 8750,
-5.68%
DCNSF,
-0.54%
dropping 3.5%. Exporters were likewise hit, with Sony Corp. 6758,
+0.48%
SNE
falling 2.4%, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. 7270,
-1.42%
FUJHF,
-0.66%
down 3.4%, and Toshiba Corp. 6502,
-0.93%
TOSY
losing 2.5%. | Financial Crisis | August 2011 | ['(Market Watch)', '(AAP via SBS)', '(Herald Sun)', '(Bloomberg)', '(USA Today)', '(News Limited)'] |
Voters in Slovakia go to the polls for the second round of voting in the presidential election with former businessman Andrej Kiska elected in a landslide. , | Andrej Kisha, a philanthropist who became rich from his consumer-credit business, vows to 're-establish trust' to the office of president he was emphatically voted in to
Political newcomer and millionaire Andrej Kiska won by a landslide in Saturday's presidential run-off, preventing veteran leftist Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico from tightening his grip on power.
A non-aligned centrist who made his fortune in the consumer-credit business, the 51-year-old Mr Kiska will be Slovakia's first president since independence in 1993 without a past in the Communist party.
"I want to re-establish the people's trust in the office of president," Kiska said in a victory speech at his campaign headquarters in the capital Bratislava.
The millionaire-turned-philanthropist who has given away most of his fortune to charity also vowed to "make politics more human."
Mr Fico, who will likely stay on as prime minister in the run-up to a 2016 general election, conceded defeat as results showed Mr Kiska winning a landslide.
Based on results from 99 per cent the vote, Mr Kiska scored 59.4 per cent of the vote compared to Mr Fico's 40.6 per cent result, the election commission said.
"This election was a referendum on Fico and his government, and he clearly lost it," Grigorij Meseznikov, Bratislava-based analyst from the Institute for Public Affairs told AFP of the premier's failed attempt to monopolise power.
"The vast majority of voters have expressed their disillusion with Fico, he was unable to mobilise his core voters," he added.
A prospect of Smer winning control of both parliament and the presidency galvanised opponents in the ex-communist country of 5.4 million, which joined the European Union in 2004 and the eurozone in 2009.
Mr Fico's party has a majority 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, with the next general election scheduled for 2016.
Analysts also warned that if he had taken the presidency, Mr Fico could have tried to amend the constitution to boost presidential powers and transform the parliamentary system into a presidential one.
Endorsed by heavyweight European Socialists like French President Francois Hollande and European Parliament chief Martin Schulz, veteran leftist Mr Fico, 49, had tried to cast Mr Kiska as politically naive and out of his depth.
But r Kiska, who is widely regarded as a self-made man with a very good nose for business, capitalised on his image as a political greenhorn untainted by the kind of corruption allegations that have ravaged Slovakia's right wing.
Politics here were rocked to the core late 2011 when a secret-service file, code-named Gorilla, leaked on the Internet revealed alleged links between oligarchs from a private financial group and nearly all of the right-wing political elite.
In the 2012 general election, angry voters ousted right-of-centre politicians and Mr Fico won by a landslide, enabling him to form a one-party government backed by a strong independent majority in the parliament.
"Kiska's number one goal now should be to try to unify a very polarised Slovak society," Bratislava-based analyst Eduard Chmelar told AFP, pointing to the divisive election campaign.
"It's a new feeling to be voting for myself," said Mr Kiska earlier Saturday as he cast his ballot in his provincial hometown of Poprad, in northern Slovakia.
He has revealed bouts of soul-searching and having "flirted" with Judaism and Buddhism before returning to Catholicism in his autobiography titled "A Manager's Road from Hell".
But Mr Fico's bid to paint Mr Kiska as an incompetent political novice dabbling in Scientology – a claim Mr Kiska denies – fell flat with voters.
The incoming president will be sworn in on June 15, when leftist incumbent Ivan Gasparovic's second term ends.
| Government Job change - Election | March 2014 | ['(Deutsche Welle)', '(The Telegraph)'] |
Palestinian militants fire a barrage of rockets into southern Israel following an Israel Air Force strike that killed two Islamic Jihad gunmen; IAF strikes at militant targets in Gaza have killed six Palestinians since yesterday. | Three rockets hit the Netivot area at around 8:30 pm. Another rocket exploded in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, while a fifth rocket landed in the Eshkol Regional Council. All of the rockets landed in open areas.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak
called a meeting of the top military and intelligence echelon to discuss the escalation
in the southern sector. A Defense Ministry source said that "a wide range of retaliatory actions are under review."
Related stories:
Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino estimated Tuesday night that the current round of violence between Gaza and Israel will continue for several days: "I hope (the violence) won't expand, but we are preparing for the possibility that it may reach the larger and more distant cities," he said.
Qassam rocket in Negev (Photos: Eliad Levy)
Thirteen rockets, which were launched from Gaza Tuesday afternoon, landed in open areas within the Negev's Eshkol Regional Council. The rockets were all fired in the span of about two hours.
At around 6:30 pm another rocket exploded in an open area in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, and a few minutes later it was reported that five more Qassams landed in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. No injuries were reported.
Several rockets were fired towards Sdot Negev Regional Council as well, while five mortar shells were lobbed into the Sha'ar Hanegev and Sdot Negev regional councils.
At around 8 pm another two rockets were fired towards the western Negev, and about a half-hour later a Qassam landed in an open area in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council.
The Home Front Command instructed the area's residents to stay in very close proximity to shelters and other fortified structures.
Fire to continue?
Shortly after the initial salvo, Israeli aircraft struck a target in the Gaza Strip. The IDF said its target was destroyed. Palestinian sources in the Hamas-ruled
territory said one person was severely wounded in what they called a targeted killing attempt.
The sources said the aircraft targeted a motorcycle travelling in Dir el-Balah in central Gaza. The injured man was evacuated to Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, they said.
One of the rockets fired from Gaza exploded about a hundred meters from Negev police sub-district sappers, who were canvassing the area in search of rocket landing sites.
Another Qassam landed in a wheat field. Firefighters were alerted to the scene to contain a fire that erupted at the site.
Hamas' military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, saying it fired "10 Grad rockets" since noon Tuesday in response to the "Zionists' crimes."
The terror group said it would continue firing rockets as long as the IDF's strikes in Gaza persist.
Overnight, rockets fired from Gaza landed
in the Ashkelon area. The army detected the launching of four rockets, which apparently exploded in open areas. No one was hurt in that attack either.
The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. A statement by the group said that the rockets were meant to hit the Zikim army base. On Tuesday, alert level in the Gaza vicinity communities was raised.
Shortly after midnight Israeli aircraft fired at a Palestinian terror cell as its members were attempting to plant an explosive device near the central Gaza Strip border fence.
The army said the attack target was hit. Palestinian sources later confirmed that the attack left two terrorists dead. | Armed Conflict | June 2012 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(The Jerusalem Post)', '(Ynet News)'] |
In the U.S., after mounting criticism over his handling of racial issues, University of Missouri System president Tim Wolfe announces his resignation; the Board of Curators votes to accept his resignation. R. Bowen Loftin, chancellor of the flagship Columbia campus, announces he will step down from his post by the end of the year. | COLUMBIA, Mo. — The University of Missouri system's president, Tim Wolfe, and the chancellor of the flagship campus, R. Bowen Loftin, announced on Monday that they were resigning their posts in the face of growing protests by African-American students, the threat of a walkout by faculty and a strike by football players who said the administrators had done too little to combat racism on campus.
Wolfe made the stunning announcement at the start of a special Board of Curators meeting Monday morning that had been scheduled to address the growing crisis at the Show Me state's flagship university. The board voted in favor of accepting his resignation. Several hours later, Loftin, chancellor of the university's Columbia campus, announced he will step down from his post by the end of the year as well.
“I am resigning as president of the University Missouri system,” said Wolfe, who choked up as he announced he was stepping down. “My motivation in making this decision comes from a love of Columbia where I grew up and the state of Missouri. I thought and prayed over this decision. It is the right thing to do … The frustration and anger I see is real, and I don’t doubt it for a second.”
Loftin said he would transition into a new role on the Columbia campus "where I will work with many people across the university and with the system to advance our research mission."
Earlier in the day, deans of nine departments at the Columbia campus had called for the dismissal of the chancellor, according to a letter obtained by the Columbia Daily Tribune. In addition to expressing their displeasure about Loftin's leadership in dealing with the concerns raised by the black students, the deans also complained about Loftin's recent decision to eliminate and then later reinstate graduate assistant health insurance. That decision had also drawn protest from the graduate student community at Mizzou.
The situation had become so emotional on campus that many members of the football team had even announced they would boycott team activities.
Mizzou president resigns: How did we get here?
After Wolfe's announcement, the university's athletic department said in a statement that the football team would return to the practice field Tuesday to prepare for its game on Saturday against BYU. Canceling the game would have cost the university in excess of $1 million.
The situation at Missouri, the oldest public university west of the Mississippi River, unfolded as other campuses, including Yale University and Ithaca College, have faced protests in recent weeks over racially tinged episodes on those campuses.
At Ithaca, students are circulating a petition asking for a vote of "confidence" or "no confidence" of President Tom Rochon, who critics say has given inadequate response to several allegedly racist incidents at the Upstate New York college.
At Yale, protests erupted after the university sent an email to students urging them not to wear racially insensitive Halloween costumes. The email prompted a professor to complain that Yale and other universities were becoming "places of censure and prohibition."
At Missouri, students pointed to several recent events on campus that underscore a hostile environment for black students.
Student government president Payton Head, who is black, said in September that people in a passing pickup shouted racial slurs at him. In early October, members of a black student organization said slurs were hurled at them by an apparently drunken white student.
In addition, a swastika drawn in feces was found recently in a dormitory bathroom. Protesters at Missouri galvanized around a group called Concerned Student 1950, which gets its name from the year the university accepted its first black student.
Before Wolfe's resignation, a faculty group issued a statement announcing plans for a walkout to show solidarity with the student protesters. The undergraduate student government also formally called on Wolfe to step down.
Students complaining about a racially fraught campus environment began protests at the university on Sept. 24, but the tense situation on campus had only recently begun to gain national attention.
More than 30 members of Missouri's football team announced Saturday that they would no longer take part in football-related activities while Wolfe was in power.
The football players joined the protest after graduate student Jonathan Butler began a hunger strike one week ago. Butler said the strike would either end with Wolfe leaving his post or Butler dying.
"The primary concerns of our student-athletes, coaches and staff has been centered on the health of Jonathan Butler and working with student leaders to find a resolution that would save a life," Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel and athletic director Mack Rhoades said in a statement. "We are hopeful we can begin a process of healing and understanding on our campus."
After Wolfe's announcement, Butler took to Twitter to announce that his hunger strike was over.
Hundreds of protesters gathered on the university's quad after Wolfe announced his resignation to celebrate. They sang We Shall Overcome, a song that had become an anthem of the Civil Rights Movement, and said the episode was just one moment in what will be a larger push for change on campus.
“Our demands must be met in totality to create systems of healing within the UM System," said Marshall Allen, one of the original members of Concerned Student 1950. "In addition to this, students, staff and faculty of color must be involved in the process of (deciding) who will be our next UM System president."
Majiyebo Yacim, a junior at the university who watched from the sidelines of the protest, said Wolfe's resignation was long overdue.
"I feel pretty isolated," said Yacim, who is black. "It is a predominantly white institution. And as a black student, there are times when i feel out of place. Seeing that minority students on campus can stick together and make things happen has been a really great experience. "
Missouri football players react to school president's resignation on Twitter
Missouri football team's boycott succeeds, as president Tim Wolfe resigns
Donald Cupps, the chairman of the Board of Curators, said the body was prepared to meet with the student protesters. The board also announced it would take several steps to address some of the protesters' concerns, including the creation of a diversity and inclusion officer for the entire University of Missouri system, a review of student and faculty code of conduct, and that the system will create a a new task force to address issues of race and equity on campus.
"We aren’t going to solve this problem overnight. But what we’re going to do is move forward and solve some of these problems if not all of these problems in the future," Cupps said. "We cannot change the hearts of individuals but hopefully we can educate those individuals so they can change their own hearts.”
The movement comes more than a year after a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, spurring a national protest. The St. Louis suburb is about 120 miles from the Columbia campus.
In their letter on Monday, student government leaders pointed to the university officials' "silence" in the aftermath of Ferguson as exacerbating tensions on campus. Butler, the student who went on the hunger strike, echoed the sentiment.
"In a post-Ferguson world, there was so much struggle on campus but administration refused to step in on our behalf and do the things they needed to do to make sure black students, brown students and all marginalized students are feeling safe and included on this campus," Butler said.
Wolfe, who earned his bachelors degree from the university's flagship campus and spent most of his childhood in Columbia, said he was crestfallen by what had transpired. He pinned the blame squarely on himself for letting the situation on campus get out of hand, while acknowledging a break-down in communication with students on campus.
"Why did we get to this very difficult situation? " Wolfe said. "It is my belief we stopped listening to each other." | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | November 2015 | ['(ESPN)', '(USA Today)', '(ABC News)'] |
North Korea positions a rocket for a launch later in the week, drawing protests from the Western world, South Korea and Japan, all of which suspect the rocket may be a ballistic missile test. | North Korea has shown off its long-range rocket to foreign journalists as it prepares to send what it claims is a satellite into orbit, which its neighbours believe is a ballistic missile test.
In a rare move, the regime allowed the rocket to be viewed on the launch pad in the country's north-west.
The launch could take place any time between Thursday and next Monday.
Pyongyang says the rocket will send a satellite into orbit to observe the Earth and will be used for weather observation and to collect data on natural resources.
But the United States, South Korea and Japan say the launch is a ballistic missile test, and both Tokyo and Seoul have vowed to shoot the rocket down if it comes near their airspace. North Korea says it will respond with merciless punishment if the rocket is brought down.
"To say this is a missile test is really nonsense," Jang Myong-Jin, head of the Tongchang-ri space centre, said.
"This launch was planned long ago, on the occasion of the 100th birthday of (late) president Kim Il-sung.
"We are not doing it for provocative purposes."
China, the North's major ally, has urged restraint.
Chinese foreign affairs minister Yang Jiechi has told his South Korean and Japanese counterparts that peace on the Korean peninsula was in the interests of all, according to a statement.
Journalists, who arrived by a special train, were able to observe the rocket from 50 metres away. It was painted in white with sky-blue lettering.
The rocket is 30 metres high with a diameter of 2.5 metres.
Reporters were also able to see close up what officials said was the satellite: a 100-kilogram box with five antennae, covered by solar panels to supply it with electricity.
On Saturday, Japan deployed missile batteries in central Tokyo, and prime minister Yoshihiko Noda has given the green light to shoot down the rocket if it threatens Japan's territory.
But the head of the North's space centre sought to appease the worries of neighbouring countries.
"We can press the button to destroy the rocket, and there is also a device in the launching vehicle which can judge whether it is out of the range and destroy itself if it deviates," he said.
It is the first time North Korea has allowed foreign journalists to go to the new space centre built on the Cholsan peninsula, 50 kilometres from the Chinese border.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | April 2012 | ['(AFP via ABC News Australia)'] |
General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who helped depose Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in the 2006 Thai coup d'état, resigned as head of the Council for National Security. | Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who quit his military posts in recent weeks, will take charge of national security as one of three deputy PMs.
Some analysts believe Gen Sonthi intends to run for prime minister in elections scheduled for December - although he says he has not decided.
He helped to depose former leader Thaksin Shinawatra last September.
'More focused'
Gen Sonthi took up his new post on Tuesday, after resigning as army chief and head of the powerful Council for National Security (CNS).
Moving to allay suggestions that the military was determined to hold on to power, he told reporters: "I can't avoid this responsibility to tackle the problems the country is facing now.
"This new role will give me an opportunity to do real work, much more focused than the role as the chairman of the CNS."
Current Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, who is also a retired general, has been under pressure to quit after five members of his cabinet resigned over a probe into their business interests.
But in a televised address on Tuesday, he vowed to guide the country through to the elections, due to take place on 23 December.
The military seized control of Thailand last year, accusing the twice-elected Mr Thaksin of corruption and abuse of power. The coup leaders formed the seven-member CNS, whose agenda included a timetable for the restoration of a civilian government and elections. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | September 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
As the Saddleworth Moor wildfire continues to burn for a sixth day, the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service have requested for military assistance in fighting the fire to be extended for at least another three days. | The government has been asked to extend the military deployment helping fight wildfires on Saddleworth moor for another three days, as fire chiefs record their busiest week in history.
Speaking at the scene on Friday, acting chief fire officer for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue service (GMFRS), Dawn Docx, said the hot weather made it hard to establish how long emergency services will need to stay at the scene.
“Currently it is being contained, but we can’t say when it will be extinguished,” she said, of the fire that has raged since Sunday, engulfing some seven square miles.
“It could be days, it might even be weeks. This weather, obviously isn’t helping at all. What we need is a real downpour and that will do the trick.”
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said the fire, along with one at Winter Hill, near Rivington, Lancashire on Thursday; another in Rochdale and one in Manchester city centre had made this week “the busiest week in Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue’s recent history”.
“I don’t think anyone can remember a busier week,” he said, adding that because of flare-ups the GMFRS continue to require “large numbers of people providing support”.
Burnham said he had asked the Ministry of Defence to extend the deployment of a 100-strong group of soldiers from the 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, who joined the fight on Thursday, initially for 48 hours..
Meanwhile, residents living near Saddleworth Moor have reported health fears including bleeding noses, eye irritation and chest problems, a GP has said.
Dr Richard Bircher, of Lockside Medical Centre in Stalybridge, said about half of the emergency appointments booked on Thursday had been from patients reporting problems as a result of the smoke.
He said: “People are worried about it. They are minor symptoms but people are a bit scared.”
He added that the smoke was also exacerbating problems for people with asthma.
“If you’re really struggling, go and stay with relatives or friends somewhere else and if you have children who are suffering try and move them away from the smoke.
“There are elderly people who want to stay in their homes and we advise them to shut the windows.
“If people are feeling really bad they can take an antihistamine. We are also advising people to wash their hands and face to get rid of any dust and wear a facemask.” | Fire | June 2018 | ['(HuffPost)'] |
Neil Peart dies from glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, in his home in Santa Monica, California. He had been diagnosed three years earlier but had been kept secret until his family officially announced his death on January 10, 2020. | Neil Peart, the Hall of Fame drummer for Rush, has died at age 67 of brain cancer.
Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty Images
Neil Peart, the virtuoso drummer and lyricist for Rush, died Tuesday, January 7th, in Santa Monica, California, at age 67, according to Elliot Mintz, a family spokesperson. The cause was brain cancer, which Peart had been quietly battling for three-and-a-half years. A representative for the band confirmed the news to Rolling Stone.
Peart was one of rock’s greatest drummers, with a flamboyant yet precise style that paid homage to his hero, the Who’s Keith Moon, while expanding the technical and imaginative possibilities of his instrument. He joined singer-bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson in Rush in 1974, and his musicianship and literate, philosophical lyrics – which initially drew on Ayn Rand and science fiction, and later became more personal and emotive – helped make the trio one of the classic-rock era’s essential bands. His drum fills on songs like “Tom Sawyer” were pop hooks in their own right, each one an indelible mini-composition; his lengthy drum solos, carefully constructed and packed with drama, were highlights of every Rush concert.
In a statement released Friday afternoon, Lee and Lifeson called Peart their “friend, soul brother and bandmate over 45 years,” and said he had been “incredibly brave” in his battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. “We ask that friends, fans, and media alike understandably respect the family’s need for privacy and peace at this extremely painful and difficult time,” Lee and Lifeson wrote. “Those wishing to express their condolences can choose a cancer research group or charity of their choice and make a donation in Neil Peart’s name. Rest in peace, brother.”
A rigorous autodidact, Peart was also the author of numerous books, beginning with 1996’s The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa, which chronicled a 1988 bicycle tour in Cameroon – in that memoir, he recalled an impromptu hand-drum performance that drew an entire village to watch.
Peart never stopped believing in the possibilities of rock (“a gift beyond price,” he called it in Rush’s 1980 track “The Spirit of Radio”) and despised what he saw as over-commercialization of the music industry and dumbed-down artists he saw as “panderers.” “It’s about being your own hero,” he told Rolling Stone in 2015. “I set out to never betray the values that 16-year-old had, to never sell out, to never bow to the man. A compromise is what I can never accept.”
Peart was a drummer’s drummer, beloved by his peers; he won prizes in Modern Drummer’s annual readers’ poll 38 times, and was a formative influence on countless young players. “His power, precision, and composition was incomparable,” Dave Grohl said in a statement released Friday. “He was called ‘The Professor’ for a reason: We all learned from him.”
“Neil is the most air-drummed-to drummer of all time,” former Police drummer Stewart Copeland told Rolling Stone in 2015. “Neil pushes that band, which has a lot of musicality, a lot of ideas crammed into every eight bars — but he keeps the throb, which is the important thing. And he can do that while doing all kinds of cool shit.”
Rush finished their final tour in August of 2015, after releasing their last album, Clockwork Angels, in 2012. Peart was done with the road. He questioned whether he could stay physically capable of playing his demanding parts, and was eager to spend more time with his wife, Carrie Nuttal, and daughter Olivia.
On August 10th, 1997, Peart’s 19-year-old daughter, Selena, died in a single-car accident on the long drive to her university in Toronto. Five months later, Selena’s mother — Peart’s common-law wife of 23 years, Jackie Taylor – was diagnosed with terminal cancer, quickly succumbing. Shattered, Peart told his bandmates to consider him retired, and embarked on a solitary motorcycle trip across the United States. He remarried in 2000, and found his way back to Rush by 2001.
Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, a middle-class Canadian suburb 70 miles from Toronto, where he took his first drum lessons at age 13. As a teen, he permed his hair, took to wearing a cape and purple boots on the city bus, and scrawled “God is dead” on his bedroom wall. At one point, he got in trouble for pounding out beats on his desk during class. His teacher’s idea of punishment was to insist that he bang on his desk nonstop for an hour’s worth of detention, time he happily spent re-creating Keith Moon’s parts from Tommy.
Peart joined Rush just after the recording of their first album, replacing original drummer John Rutsey. His breakthrough with the band came with 1976’s 2112 — the first side of the album was a rock opera set in that far-future year, combining Peart’s sci-fi vision and Rand-ian ideology (which he later disavowed, calling himself a “bleeding-heart libertarian”) with explosive prog theatrics. A later milestone came with the 1982 “Subdivisions,” an autobiographical tale of suburban misery (“The suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth”).
“A lot of the early fantasy stuff was just for fun,” Peart told Rolling Stone. “Because I didn’t believe yet that I could put something real into a song. ‘Subdivisions’ happened to be an anthem for a lot of people who grew up under those circumstances, and from then on, I realized what I most wanted to put in a song was human experience.”
Around then, Rush’s music become more concise, without losing its complexity. “When punk and New Wave came,” Peart told Rolling Stone, “we were young enough to gently incorporate it into our music, rather than getting reactionary about it — like other musicians who I heard saying, ‘What are we supposed to do now, forget how to play?’ We were fans enough to go, ‘Oh, we want that too.’ And by [1981’s] Moving Pictures, we nailed it, learning how to be seamlessly complex and to compact a large arrangement into a concise statement.”
Always suspicious of showbiz, Peart spent much of his downtime on the road in Rush’s early days buried in a stack of books. In the final years, he avoided the usual touring routine by traveling from gig to gig via motorcycle, taking off shortly after each show’s conclusion.
In the Nineties, he produced two tribute albums to jazz legend Buddy Rich, and at a moment when many of his fans already considered him the world’s best rock drummer, Peart began taking lessons with Freddie Gruber, a jazz player and noted drum instructor. Peart credited Gruber (and another teacher, Peter Erskine) with helping him re-create his technique and sense of time from scratch, leading him to a more fluid approach and a deeper groove. “What is a master but a master student?” Peart told Rolling Stone in 2012. “There’s a responsibility on you to keep getting better.” | Famous Person - Death | January 2020 | ['(Rolling Stone)'] |
Iraqi cleric and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani condemns both the United States and Iran over the escalation of conflict in Iraq, saying it shows blatant disregard for Iraqi sovereignty and the suffering of the Iraqi people. | BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington on Friday spurned an Iraqi request to prepare to pull out its troops, amid heightened U.S.-Iranian tensions after the U.S. killing of an Iranian commander in Baghdad, and said it was exploring a possible expansion of NATO’s presence there.
Seeking to tighten pressure on its foe, the United States meanwhile imposed more sanctions on Iran, responding to an attack on U.S. troops in Iraq launched by Tehran in retaliation for the death of General Qassem Soleimani.
Iraq could bear the brunt of any further violence between its neighbor Iran and the United States, its leaders caught in a bind as Washington and Tehran are also the Iraqi government’s main allies and vie for influence there.
President Donald Trump said Iran had probably planned to attack the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and was aiming to strike four U.S. embassies when Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike.
“We will tell you probably it was going to be the embassy in Baghdad,” Trump said in a clip of an interview with Fox News. “I can reveal that I believe it would have been four embassies.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi made his request for preparations for a U.S. troop withdrawal in a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday in line with a vote in Iraq’s parliament last week, his office said.
Abdul Mahdi asked Pompeo to “send delegates to put in place the tools to carry out the parliament’s decision,” his office said in a statement, adding that the forces used in the killing had entered Iraq or used its airspace without permission.
The State Department said any U.S. delegation would not discuss the withdrawal of U.S. troops as their presence in Iraq was “appropriate.”
“There does, however, need to be a conversation between the U.S. and Iraqi governments not just regarding security, but about our financial, economic, and diplomatic partnership,” spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
Trump said in the Fox News interview that if Iraq wanted the United States to leave, he would tell them: “You have to pay us for the money we put in.”
He said the United States has $35 billion of Iraq’s money “sitting in an account.”
“I think they’ll agree to pay. Otherwise we’ll stay there,” Trump said.
Pompeo told reporters a NATO delegation was in Washington on Friday to discuss the future of the Iraq mission and a plan to “get burden-sharing right in the region”.
Separately, the State Department said Pompeo had discussed Iran with Canadian Foreign Minister Francois‑Philippe Champagne as well as “the opportunity for an expanded NATO force in Iraq and appropriate burden sharing”.
The latest flare-up in the long covert war between Iran and the United States began with the U.S. killing of Soleimani, Iran’s top general, in a drone strike on Jan. 3. Iran responded on Wednesday by firing missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq.
In the aftermath, both sides backed off from intensifying the conflict but the region remains tense.
Iraq’s top Shi’ite Muslim cleric condemned the U.S.-Iranian struggle happening on Iraqi soil, saying it risked plunging his country and the wider Middle East into deeper conflict.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said it was Iraqis who stood to suffer most from the U.S.-Iranian conflict. In a message delivered through a representative at Friday prayers in the holy city of Kerbala, Sistani said no foreign powers should be allowed to decide Iraq’s fate.
“The latest dangerous aggressive acts, which are repeated violations of Iraqi sovereignty, are a part of the deteriorating situation” in the region, Sistani said. “Iraq must govern itself and there must be no role for outsiders in its decision-making.”
Iraq has suffered decades of war, sanctions and sectarian conflict, including the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.
At Friday prayers in Tehran, mid-ranking Iranian cleric Mohammad Javad Haj Aliakbari said U.S. interests across the world were now exposed to threats.
Since Soleimani’s killing, Tehran has stepped up its calls for U.S. forces to leave Iraq, which like Iran is a mainly Shi’ite Muslim nation. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said the retaliatory strikes were not enough and that ending the U.S. military presence in the region was Tehran’s main goal.
Critics have called Soleimani’s killing a reckless action.
But Pompeo said on Friday Washington had specific information about an imminent Iranian threat including to U.S. embassies, adding: “American lives were at risk.”
As part of his most recent activities in Iraq, Soleimani had encouraged pro-Iranian Iraqi militias to quash months of protests by Iraqis opposed to the influence in their country of foreign powers such as Iran and the United States.
In Iraqi cities, demonstrators took to the streets again on Friday, determined to keep up the momentum of their protests despite attention turning to the threat of a U.S.-Iran conflict.
Gunmen killed two local journalists covering protests in the southern city of Basra, security sources and state media said. Ahmed Abdulsamad, Basra correspondent of Dijla TV station — owned by senior Sunni politician Mohammed al-Karbouli — was killed immediately while his camera operator succumbed to his wounds in hospital, a medical source told Reuters.
“Politicians and clerics...are either with Iran, the U.S. or other countries. Our allegiance is to Iraq only, not to factions and politicians,” said Essam Faraj, 54, a demonstrator in Baghdad.
Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein, John Davison, Ahmed Rasheed and Aziz El Yaakoubi in Baghdad, Babak Dehghanpisheh and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai and Susan Heavey, Nandita Bose and Doina Chiacu, Makini Brice and Eric Beech in Washington; Writing by Edmund Blair and William Maclean; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Alistair Bell and Jacqueline Wong
| Famous Person - Give a speech | January 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The Metropolitan Fire Brigade in the Australian city of Melbourne warn residents about haze from a large industrial fire burning in the suburb of Broadmeadows. | A fire burning up to 150,000 tyres and sending toxic fumes into the sky in Melbourne's north is likely to remain alight until Wednesday, authorities say.
The fire, which started inside a tyre pile at the back of recycling plant Tyre Crumb in Maygar Boulevard in Broadmeadows, began shortly before 9am on Monday.
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MFB's warning to residents as it battles to contain a large tyre fire at an industrial site in Melbourne's north. It has since burnt through more than 70 per cent of the junk yard's tyre pile – about 150,000 car and truck tyres.
More than 100 firefighters from multiple agencies were continuing to battle the blaze using foam late on Monday, and many would remain overnight.
The Broadmeadows fire was visible for miles.Credit:David Jones
Despite drops of up to 10,000 litres of water a minute and retardant bombed onto the fire, it was still out of control on Monday evening, but contained within the yard.
Water bombing helicopters that were being used to contain the flames had to be stood down once thunderstorms brought a change in wind direction just after 4pm. A Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokesman said while the rain had been welcome, swirling winds and stormy conditions had added to the challenge.
With the huge, plume of toxic black fumes emanating from the fire visible from as far away as the Mornington Peninsula, the MFB warned residents near to the fire to turn off air conditioners and keep doors and windows closed. A water-bombing helicopter drops its load on the massive Broadmeadows tyre fire.Credit:Wayne Taylor
"We understand that people will be concerned about the smoke that they see ... we really just want people to stay indoors and close their windows," incident controller David Yousef said.
"All smoke is toxic but at the moment, because of the wind conditions, fortunately it is not coming down to ground level so we don't have any significant concerns for the community.
The MFB says the Broadmeadows fire is likely to burn for several hours. Credit:Tammy Mills
"We would ask people to continue to monitor the media and maintain a watch on what's going on."
Deputy incident controller Andrew Zammit told a community meeting in Broadmeadows on Monday afternoon that toxins in the air were within "tolerance" levels.
He said given the experience of the Hazelwood mine fire of 2014, they were "mindful" of monitoring the air particles every 15 minutes with assistance from the Environment Protection Authority.
Mr Zammit said they were also working with the agency to put measures in place to prevent fire run-off from infiltrating nearby waterways.
The fire could continue burning for the next 24 to 36 hours.
"There is a lot of rubber there and a lot of fuel there to burn so it is proving quite challenging for firefighters," incident controller David Youssef said.
"Tyres fire are very difficult to extinguish and they can often burn for more than a day. That is why we are pulling out all the stops to try and bring this fire under control."
The firefighters had been supported by two water-bombing helicopters, creating a further spectacle for a number of bystanders.
"It's not often you see something like that," Coburg's Ben Patterson said.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Tyre Crumb owners were not available for comment.
Up to three businesses that back onto the fire in an industrial warehouse were forced to evacuate on Monday morning including Tyre Crumb, but also, textiles recycling company Southern Cross Recycling. Southern Cross Recycling chief executive Enzo Bruscella said his staff noticed smoke coming from the stack of tyres shortly before 9am and notified authorities.
"Our major concern is for the health and well-being of our staff, so our staff have been evacuated and accounted for," he said.
He said business for the day has been shifted to another site to minimise loss and to cater for emergency services that have set-up in his company's yard.
"We have great confidence in emergency services," he said.
His company has CCTV cameras that face the tyre pile and is likely to be reviewed by authorities when they begin investigations into the cause.
Kerry Talbot works at a fruit supply shop across the road from the fire.
She said she could see flames and smoke from where she was standing, but smoke was travelling straight up in the air, rather than blanketing the ground.
"There's no smell ... It's so dead out there, there's no wind," she said.
"We're pretty close and we haven't been told to move or anything."
The MFB has issued watch and act advice for the Broadmeadows, Campbellfield, Coolaroo, Dallas, Fawkner, Gladstone Park, Glenroy, Gowanbrae, Hadfield, Jacana, Lalor, Meadow Heights, Reservoir, Thomastown and Westmeadows areas.
It has warned of toxic smoke from the site and told residents to shelter indoors and make sure external windows, doors, vents are closed, including air conditioning and heating.
Maygar Boulevard and Park Street are partially closed.
The Environment Protection Authority has sent air monitoring equipment out to Broadmeadows at the request of the MFB. The equipment will test for the presence of fine particles within the smoke that are tied to lung cancer risk.
Rubber tyres are twice as hard to set on fire as paper or wood, but can be a fire risk because they absorb heat, making flames are harder to extinguish once they are alight.
The MFB's open-air tyre storage guidelines also state that the shape of a tyre also makes it difficult to put out the flames, because the inside of the structure holds in air to feed the fire but at the same time the outer area provides a shield from hose spray.
The guidelines, which came into effect in March 2014, say tyres should not be stored in large piles no larger than 20 metres long, six metres wide and three metres high.
The Environment Protection Authority also updated its tyre storage requirements in April last year so that sites that housed more than 5000 tyres had to get a special license or face fines of up to $350,000. Copyright © 2021 | Fire | January 2016 | ['(Melbourne Age)'] |
Voters in Ukraine go to the polls today in the first round of the presidential election. President Petro Poroshenko is seeking re-election, with comedian Volodymyr Zelensky and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko the primary challengers. All three have expressed largely pro-European views. Former Vice Prime Minister Yuriy Boyko is the front-runner among the pro-Russian candidates. A total of 39 candidates are on the ballot, increasing the probability no candidate will win more than 50 percent of the votes. If so, the top two will meet in a second round on 21 April. | Current leader Petro Poroshenko, 53, is seeking re-election but the surprise front-runner is 41-year-old comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Both, along with former PM Yulia Tymoshenko, 58, have expressed largely pro-EU views during the campaign.
None of the pro-Russian candidates are seen as serious contenders. Areas controlled by pro-Russian separatists are boycotting the poll.
If no candidate gets more than 50% on Sunday, the top two will fight it out in a second round on 21 April.
A total of 39 candidates are on the ballot paper, but only the three front-runners are considered to have any chance of victory.
The Ukrainian president has significant powers over security, defence and foreign policy and the ex-Soviet republic's system is described as semi-presidential.
Mr Poroshenko, one of Ukraine's wealthiest oligarchs, was elected in a snap vote after former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was toppled in the February 2014 Maidan Revolution, which was followed by Russia's annexation of Crimea and a Russian-backed insurgency in the east.
The next president will inherit a deadlocked conflict between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed separatists in the east, while Ukraine strives to fulfil EU requirements for closer economic ties.
The EU says that about 12% of Ukraine's 44 million people are disenfranchised, largely those who live in Russia and in Crimea, which Russia annexed in March 2014.
Mr Zelenskiy is aiming to turn his satirical TV show - in which he portrays an ordinary citizen who becomes president after fighting corruption - into reality.
He has torn up the rule book for election campaigning, the BBC's Jonah Fisher reports from Kiev. He has done no rallies and few interviews, and appears to have no strong political views apart from a wish to be new and different.
His extensive use of social media appeals to younger voters.
His readiness to speak both Russian and Ukrainian, at a time when language rights are a hugely sensitive topic, has gained him support in Ukraine's largely Russian-speaking east.
Opinion polls suggest he will have a clear lead over Mr Poroshenko and Ms Tymoshenko in the first round, and would retain it in a run-off against either of them.
Mr Poroshenko aims to appeal to conservative Ukrainians through his slogan "Army, Language, Faith".
He says his backing for the military has helped keep the separatists in eastern Ukraine in check. He also negotiated an Association Agreement with the EU, including visa-free travel for Ukrainians. During his tenure the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has become independent of Russian control.
However his campaign has been dogged by corruption allegations, including a scandal over defence procurement, which erupted last month.
The third main contender is Yulia Tymoshenko who has served as prime minister and ran for president in 2010 and 2014. She played a leading role in the 2004 Orange Revolution, Ukraine's first big push to ally itself with the EU.
The front-runner among the pro-Russian candidates, Yuriy Boyko, says he would "normalise" relations with Russia.
| Government Job change - Election | March 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
U.S. President George W. Bush has promised the President of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Mazen, $50 million in aid and reiterated that Israel was to stop all settlement activity on the West Bank. | Mr Bush also reiterated his commitment to the roadmap for peace and the creation of a Palestinian state.
He said that Israel must not take any actions that violated its roadmap obligations and said all settlement expansion on the West Bank must stop. Mr Abbas is the first Palestinian leader to be hosted by Mr Bush.
He said that he was more confident about the role the US administration would play in achieving peace, but that time was short.
"Time is becoming our greatest enemy, we should end this conflict before it is too late," he said.
'Moment of opportunity'
The new aid is part of a $350m package earmarked for the Palestinians.
It will go to fund housing and infrastructure projects in the Gaza Strip.
You have made a start on a difficult journey, requiring courage and leadership each day - and we will take that journey together
George W Bush
"These funds will be used to improve the quality of life of the Palestinians living in Gaza, where poverty and unemployment are very high," Mr Bush said.
The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says that while the money is a pat on the back for Mr Abbas, the US does not want him to feel so comfortable that he fails to take actions it regards as necessary to guarantee Israeli security.
Mr Abbas had asked Congress to channel financial assistance directly to the Palestinian Authority, instead of to NGOs.
US politicians have been reluctant to do that, accusing the PA of corruption, and preferring to fund aid agencies and non-governmental organisations.
Mr Bush also urged other Arab states to help create a supportive environment by providing financial help and refusing those wedded to violence.
He said that the Middle East had reached a moment of opportunity, and this could be transformed into real momentum.
"We remain committed to the roadmap as the only vision of two states living side by side," he said.
Mr Abbas asked Congressmen for direct funding
Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip could lay the groundwork for a return to the roadmap, he added.
Mr Bush also praised Mr Abbas for rejecting violence and embracing democracy.
"You have made a start on a difficult journey, requiring courage and leadership each day," he said. "And we will take that journey together."
He urged Israel to remove unauthorised settlement outposts and stop the expansion of existing settlements in the West Bank.
The US president added that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would visit Jerusalem and Ramallah before the Israel withdrawal from Gaza.
Thaw
Mr Abbas is keen for the US to bring Israel's planned unilateral withdrawal from the occupied Gaza Strip under the auspices of the roadmap.
The roadmap plan, sponsored by the US, European Union, Russia and the United Nations, has been largely deadlocked since it was launched two years ago.
| Financial Aid | May 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Association for Computing Machinery awards the 2015 A.M. Turing Award to Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman for the invention of public–key cryptography and digital signatures which revolutionized computer security. |
The
Association of Computing Machinery on Tuesday named Whitfield Diffie and Martin E. Hellman recipients of the 2015 ACM A.M. Turing Award for their contributions to modern cryptography.
Their invention of public key cryptography and digital signatures revolutionized computer security, the organization said.
The award, considered the Nobel Prize of computing, includes a US$1 million prize, with financial support provided by Google.
It is named for Alan M. Turing, the British mathematician who articulated the mathematical foundation and limits of computing. He was a key contributor to the Allied cryptoanalysis of the German Enigma cipher during World War II.
Cryptography is a system that converts or encrypts readable information into gibberish. Only those with a designated decryption key can read the content.
"It is long overdue for this recognition of Whit Diffie and Martin Hellman's contributions to not only cryptography, but to the mechanisms that underpin essentially all electronic commerce," said Bobby Kuzma, a systems engineer at
Core Security.
"It is well deserved," he told TechNewsWorld.
Diffie and Hellman published in 1976 a paper titled "New Directions in Cryptography" that showed that asymmetric or public key cryptography was possible. That paper described the future use of computer networks in a world where sensitive information would be stolen or altered.
Forty years later, their forecasts have come true, ACM President Alexander L. Wolf said.
"Their contributions are immeasurable. The contributions have provided the fundamental mathematical principles that are still being leveraged in modern cryptography today," Jerald Dawkins, CTO of
TokenEx.
"While protocols and their use within technology changes, these principles have proven viable over time," he told TechNewsWorld.
Individuals communicate privately over a secure channel with banks, e-commerce sites, email servers and the cloud on a daily basis, the ACM said.
Public key cryptography and digital signatures are the foundation for most regularly used security protocols on the Internet today, according to the organization. The Diffie-Hellman Protocol protects daily Internet communications and trillions of dollars in financial transactions.
Diffie was chief security officer of Sun Microsystems and now serves as a consulting scholar for the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.
He worked throughout the 1990s to protect individual and business rights to use encryption. He is a Marconi fellow and the recipient of a number of awards, including the National Computer Systems Security Award given jointly by NIST and the NSA and the Franklin Institute's Levy Prize.
Hellman is professor emeritus of electrical engineering at Stanford. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and an inductee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He is best known for his inventing public key cryptography with Diffie and Ralph Merkle.
He also was a long-time contributor to the computer privacy debate. He was involved with the issue of DES key size in 1975 and served from 1994 to 1996 on the National Research Council's Committee to Study National Cryptographic Policy, whose main recommendations have since been implemented.
"Cryptography is the foundation on how we ensure confidentiality and integrity of information at rest and during transmission. It allows us to gain trust in digital information that otherwise could not be accomplished," TokenEx's Dawkins said.
"Cryptography is essential for ensuring our security and privacy," said Core Security's Kuzma. "Recent attacks against the Diffie-Hellman key exchange show the implications of allowing back doors and flawed implementations leading to compromises."
Two of the greatest challenges to cryptography and the safety it affords are secrecy and governmental meddling. Trusted cryptographic systems must be open for review and analysis, and the implementations must be similarly open, he noted.
"Otherwise, we run the risk of simple flaws greatly impacting our security, privacy and safety," Kuzma warned.
Cryptography continues to face challenges today. The fundamental properties have not changed, but their implementations and use within various protocols have, according to Dawkins.
"The most significant challenge that we face today is really not the mathematical challenges as much as its implementation by man," he said. "Flaws in implementations include key generation, management, storage and distribution."
Jack M. Germain has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His main areas of focus are enterprise IT, Linux and open source technologies. He has written numerous reviews of Linux distros and other open source software. | Awards ceremony | March 2016 | ['(TechNewsWorld)'] |
Brodie Clark, head of the UK Border Agency, resigns after saying that comments made by Home Secretary Theresa May amounted to "constructive dismissal", and states that he will launch legal proceedings against the government. | The head of the UK Border Force has stepped down after being blamed for letting thousands of foreigners into the country without proper checks.
Brodie Clark was suspended by the Home Secretary Theresa May last week after being accused of relaxing immigration controls beyond what she had asked for.
He now plans to lodge a claim for "constructive dismissal", and has denied acting improperly.
Earlier, Mrs May said he must "take full responsibility for his actions".
The home secretary allowed some checks on European travellers to be relaxed, but says Mr Clark went further in scaling back checks, without her approval.
In a statement, Mr Clark said his position at the UK Borders Agency had been made "untenable" because of the statements made in the House of Commons by Mrs May.
"Those statements are wrong and were made without the benefit of hearing my response to formal allegations," he said.
"The home secretary suggests that I added additional measures, improperly, to the trial of our risk-based controls. I did not. Those measures have been in place since 2008/09. "The home secretary also implies that I relaxed the controls in favour of queue management. I did not. "Despite pressure to reduce queues, including from ministers, I can never be accused of compromising security for convenience. "This summer saw queues of over three hours (non EU) on a regular basis at Heathrow and I never once contemplated cutting our essential controls to ease the flow."
He said he was saddened his career should end in this way after 40 years of "dedicated service", and regretted Mrs May had "disregarded my right to reply" in favour of political convenience.
Although Mr Clark has left the Civil Service, technically he has not resigned, said Jonathan Baume from the First Division Association, the trade union which represents senior civil servants
He said Mr Clark had been willing to answer the issues raised internally.
"But instead he was suspended and the home secretary has spent two days basically traducing him and damning him without ever giving the civil servant the opportunity to present their case."
Mr Clark - one of three UKBA officials suspended last week - is due to give evidence to the home affairs select committee next week.
Earlier, Mrs May faced questions from that committee about her involvement in a pilot scheme.
She told MPs she had not told the Cabinet of her decision to allow officials to relax checks on some European travellers arriving in the UK as the "limited" pilot was an "operational matter" which "did not in any way put border security at risk". She said the idea was that at busy times it was safer to carry out "intelligence-led" checks on suspicious passengers rather than mandatory checks on all passengers, including those who were "low risk".
Labour committee member David Winnick suggested ministers should take full responsibility for a "major blunder" on their watch and asked if there was any question of Mrs May resigning - to which the home secretary responded: "No."
She added that she would take responsibility for the authorised pilot, which she suggested had led to a 10% rise in the detection of illegal immigrants, but Mr Clark must "take full responsibility for his actions".
Mrs May has announced there will be three inquiries, the main one led by the Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency, John Vine.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the "fiasco" for the home secretary was getting worse, now her version of events has been contradicted by "her most senior official" at the UK Border Force.
"First she decided to reduce border checks then lost control of her so-called 'pilot'. Now she has lost the loyalty of one of her most senior civil servants. The home secretary clearly doesn't know what has been happening at our borders."
Labour has put forward an opposition day motion calling for the government to publish the instructions Mrs May and Immigration Minister Damian Green gave to UKBA during Wednesday's debate on the affair.
The motion also asks whether they signed off operational instructions giving UKBA greater flexibility.
Labour MP Keith Vaz, the chairman of the home affairs committee, said Mr Clark "cast very serious doubt" on the home secretary's account his committee had heard just hours earlier.
"It's completely contradictory to what she said. This is a complete turnaround of events."
Speaking on BBC's Newsnight programme Mr Vaz said the committee would be writing to Mrs May with a number of new questions.
Chief executive of the UK Borders Agency Rob Whiteman said he suspended Mr Clark after he admitted last week to authorising staff to go further than ministerial instruction, on a number of occasions.
"In my opinion it was right for officials to have recommended the pilot so that we focus attention on higher risks to our border, but it is unacceptable that one of my senior officials went further than was approved," he added. May 'contempt' for borders chief
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | November 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
The death toll in China following the recent mudslide rises to 337. 1,148 people are now missing. | The death toll from landslides in north-west China has risen to 337, with 1,148 people missing, state-run Xinhua news agency says.
The landslides in Zhouqu county, Gansu province, were triggered by torrential rains that hit the area on Saturday.
Landslide debris blocked a river, which burst its banks, sending water, rocks and mud down several hillsides and on to homes.
Earlier on Monday evening the toll had stood at 137, with 1,348 missing.
The landslides in Gansu came as China was struggling with its worst flooding in a decade, with more than 1,000 people reported dead and millions more displaced around the country.
In Gansu, the landslides tore down apartment blocks, and buried houses and streets under deep layers of mud.
More than 4,500 soldiers, firefighters and medical staff have been sent to the area, as well as helicopters and other aircraft.
They have been searching amid the rubble and mud for survivors, and a 74-year-old woman was reportedly found alive on Monday morning.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has visited Zhouqu, urging rescue workers on in their efforts and comforting those affected.
Images from the area showed victims' bodies wrapped in quilts or blankets being carried away on stretchers.
"There were some, but very few, survivors," one resident was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. "Most of them are dead, crushed into the earth."
Zhouqu county, part of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, lies in a narrow valley by the Bailong river, which was cut off by the landslides.
Troops have been blasting through rubble blocking the river in an attempt to prevent further floods, with more rain forecast for later this week.
Authorities have sent tents, food and water, but some supplies were reported to be running low.
In pictures: Deadly China landslides
China troops blast landslide dam
| Mudslides | August 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(AFP via France24)', '(AP via The Times of India)', '(Reuters India)'] |
Shots fired by "regular forces" near the site of a sit-in protest in Khartoum kill one person and wound 10 others, according to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors. The gunfire lasted about four hours. This week at least three protesters have been shot dead and eight others injured during protests calling for the generals who replaced deposed President Omar al-Bashir to hand power to a civilian-led administration. | (Reuters) - At least 11 people were wounded by gunfire near a protest sit-in in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Saturday, an opposition doctors’ committee said.
Sudan’s main protest group blamed the violence on the Transitional Military Council (TMC), saying that it is part of a plan to violently clear the protests.
“The killing and intimidation on Nile Street is just a prelude to committing a massacre to end the sit-in by force,” Sudanese Professionals’ Association (SPA) said in a statement late on Saturday.
Tensions are mounting between the TMC and an alliance of protest and opposition groups who want a quick handover of power to civilians.
TMC officials could not immediately be reached for a comment.
The head of the central Khartoum military region said on Thursday the protest site “has become unsafe and represents a danger to the revolution and the revolutionaries and threatens the coherence of the state and its national security.”
. | Armed Conflict | June 2019 | ['(Reuters)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
A group of gunmen kidnap students from Greenfield University in Kaduna, Nigeria. | Remains of the students found in a village close to Greenfield University, according to Kaduna state security official.
Three students abducted from their university in northwestern Nigeria earlier this week have been found dead, according to a local official.
The killings announced on Friday were an escalation in the mass kidnappings across northern Nigeria carried out by criminal gangs known locally as bandits.
Gunmen attacked the private Greenfield University in Kaduna state on Tuesday, killing one staff member and taking an unknown number of students. It was the fifth known attack on a school or college since December 2020.
“In an act of mindless evil and sheer wickedness, the armed bandits who kidnapped students of Greenfield University have shot dead three of the abducted students,” Samuel Aruwan, Kaduna state’s internal security and home affairs commissioner, said in a statement.
The remains of the students were found in a village close to the university, he added.
Two university staff told AFP news agency that 20 students along with three non-academic staff were kidnapped but state officials could not confirm those numbers.
Armed gangs have repeatedly struck northern Nigerian schools and universities in recent months, abducting more than 700 students. Experts agree that the growing instances of mass abductions are an offshoot of a booming kidnapping-for-ransom criminal enterprise that has become one of Nigeria’s main security challenges.
“Schools are soft targets,” Ikemesit Effiong, head of research at SB Morgen (SBM) Intelligence, a Lagos-based political risk analysis firm, told Al Jazeera. “They target school children as well as women because the incentives behind securing their release are much higher. Also, men are always considered to be in much more position to possess the finances to secure the release of their wives and children.”
In Kaduna, however, local authorities have said they would not pay any ransom to criminals.
“The bandits have been targeting educational institutions and schools, abducting students, in particular, because it makes headlines. Headlines constitute the oxygen of the terrorists, and these bandits are terrorists,” Governor Nasir el-Rufai told Al Jazeera last month.
“We do not pay ransom; we will not negotiate with criminals; we will not negotiate with bandits,” el-Rufai said, calling it “a principle stand”.
“The fact that you are carrying an AK-47 does not give you the platform to negotiate because if we do that then we’ll have to negotiate with every criminal in Nigeria, and grant him or her amnesty.”
The government and security forces have largely been unable to stop the attacks as they struggle to contain worsening violence and criminality across the country.
The announcement of the students’ deaths came hours after President Muhammadu Buhari had condemned the killing of “tens” of villagers early this week in neighbouring northwestern Zamfara state and ordered security forces to hunt down the perpetrators.
Local residents said as many as 60 people could have been killed in Wednesday’s rampage in about a dozen villages in the state but only nine bodies had been recovered.
In a statement late on Thursday, Buhari said “such wanton disregard for life will be brought to an end sooner than later” and ordered security forces to rid the region of “frequent and horrifying bandit activities”.
“The violence against poor villagers who are struggling with poverty and other severe economic challenges is not going to be tolerated by this administration,” he said.
Since December 2020, a total of 769 students have been taken in at least five school kidnappings in northern Nigeria.
Helpio allows victims to report cases and seek help amid fear of stigma and soaring sexual assault figures.
Measures come after three people shot following release of kidnapped schoolgirls in the town of Jangebe, Zamfara state. | Armed Conflict | April 2021 | ['(Al Jazeera)'] |
Charlie Rose is suspended as host of Charlie Rose and anchor of CBS This Morning after allegations of sexual harassment and obscene phone calls and was later fired by the following day. | Eight women have told The Washington Post that longtime television host Charlie Rose made unwanted sexual advances toward them, including lewd phone calls, walking around naked in their presence, or groping their breasts, buttocks or genital areas. The women were employees or aspired to work for Rose at the “Charlie Rose” show from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011. They ranged in age from 21 to 37 at the time of the alleged encounters. Rose, 75, whose show airs on PBS and Bloomberg TV, also co-hosts “CBS This Morning” and is a contributing correspondent for “60 Minutes.” There are striking commonalities in the accounts of the women, each of whom described their interactions with Rose in multiple interviews with The Post. For all of the women, reporters interviewed friends, colleagues or family members who said the women had confided in them about aspects of the incidents. Three of the eight spoke on the record. Five of the women spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of Rose’s stature in the industry, his power over their careers or what they described as his volatile temper. “In my 45 years in journalism, I have prided myself on being an advocate for the careers of the women with whom I have worked,” Rose said in a statement provided to The Post. “Nevertheless, in the past few days, claims have been made about my behavior toward some former female colleagues. “It is essential that these women know I hear them and that I deeply apologize for my inappropriate behavior. I am greatly embarrassed. I have behaved insensitively at times, and I accept responsibility for that, though I do not believe that all of these allegations are accurate. I always felt that I was pursuing shared feelings, even though I now realize I was mistaken. “I have learned a great deal as a result of these events, and I hope others will too. All of us, including me, are coming to a newer and deeper recognition of the pain caused by conduct in the past, and have come to a profound new respect for women and their lives.”
Within hours of the publication of this article, PBS and Bloomberg LP immediately suspended distribution of the “Charlie Rose” show. CBS announced that it was suspending Rose as it looked into the matter. Most of the women said Rose alternated between fury and flattery in his interactions with them. Five described Rose putting his hand on their legs, sometimes their upper thigh, in what they perceived as a test to gauge their reactions. Two said that while they were working for Rose at his residences or were traveling with him on business, he emerged from the shower and walked naked in front of them. One said he groped her buttocks at a staff party. Reah Bravo was an intern and then associate producer for Rose’s PBS show beginning in 2007. In interviews, she described unwanted sexual advances while working for Rose at his private waterfront estate in Bellport, N.Y., and while traveling with him in cars, in a hotel suite and on a private plane. “It has taken 10 years and a fierce moment of cultural reckoning for me to understand these moments for what they were,” she told The Post. “He was a sexual predator, and I was his victim.” [#MeToo: A movement or a moment?] Kyle Godfrey-Ryan, one of Rose’s assistants in the mid-2000s, recalled at least a dozen instances where Rose walked nude in front of her while she worked in one of his New York City homes. He also repeatedly called the then-21-year-old late at night or early in the morning to describe his fantasies of her swimming naked in the Bellport pool as he watched from his bedroom, she said. “It feels branded into me, the details of it,” Godfrey-Ryan said. She said she told Yvette Vega, Rose’s longtime executive producer, about the calls. “I explained how he inappropriately spoke to me during those times,” Godfrey-Ryan said. “She would just shrug and just say, ‘That’s just Charlie being Charlie.’ ”
In a statement to The Post, Vega said she should have done more to protect the young women on the show. “I should have stood up for them,” said Vega, 52, who has worked with Rose since the show was created in 1991. “I failed. It is crushing. I deeply regret not helping them.”
Godfrey-Ryan said that when Rose learned she had confided to a mutual friend about his conduct, he fired her. Megan Creydt worked as a coordinator on the show from 2005 to 2006, overlapping with Godfrey-Ryan. “It was quite early in working there that he put his hand on my mid-thigh,” said Creydt, who agreed to be interviewed on the record to support other women who were coming forward with what she deemed to be more serious claims concerning Rose. She said that during the incident, Rose was driving his Mini Cooper in Manhattan while she was sitting in the passenger seat. “I don’t think I said anything,” she said. “I tensed up. I didn’t move his hand off, but I pulled my legs to the other side of the car. I tried not to get in a car with him ever again. I think he was testing me out.”
Her then-boyfriend confirmed to The Post that she told him the story at the time. In addition to the eight women who say they were harassed, The Post spoke to about two dozen former employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Six said they saw what they considered to be harassment, eight said they were uncomfortable with Rose’s treatment of female employees, and 10 said they did not see or hear anything concerning. [“I am not okay”: The remarkable response from Rose’s co-host on CBS] “He was always professional with me,” said Eleonore Marchand Mueller, a former assistant of Rose’s who worked for him from 2003 to 2005. “I never witnessed any unprofessional incidents.”
The show’s small, informal structure, with roughly 15 employees, and the centrality of Rose’s authority on a program he owns led to uncertainty over how to respond, said the women who felt victimized. “There wasn’t anybody to report this to if you felt uncomfortable,” one of them said. The employees worked for Charlie Rose Inc., and not Bloomberg LP or PBS, which said they did not provide human resources support for the show. The environment brimmed with the young and potentially vulnerable, hungry for scarce television jobs. “There are so few jobs,” said one of the women who said Rose groped her. “You know if you don’t behave a certain way, there’s someone else behind you.”
Rose traveled frequently, jetting off to interview world leaders across the globe and splitting time between two New York City residences and homes in Bellport — on Long Island — and North Carolina. Often at his side was a rotating cast of young assistants and producers. The young women who were hired by the show were sometimes known as “Charlie’s Angels,” two former employees said. Rose frequently gave unsolicited shoulder rubs to several of them, behavior referred to among employees as “the crusty paw,” a former employee said. Rumors about Rose’s behavior have circulated for years. One of the authors of this report, Outlook contributing writer Irin Carmon, first heard and attempted to report on the allegations involving two of the women while she was a journalist at Jezebel in 2010 but was unable to confirm them. In the past several weeks in the wake of accusations against Harvey Weinstein, Carmon and Post investigative reporter Amy Brittain jointly began contacting dozens of men and women who had worked on the “Charlie Rose” show or interviewed for jobs there. A woman then in her 30s who was at the Bellport home in 2010 to discuss a job opportunity said Rose appeared before her in an untethered bathrobe, naked underneath. She said he subsequently attempted to put his hands down her pants. She said she pushed his hands away and wept throughout the encounter. A woman who began as an intern in the late 1990s and was later hired full time described a “ritual” of young women at the show being summoned by Rose to his Manhattan apartment to work at a desk there. The woman described a day when Rose went into the bathroom, left the door open and turned on the shower. She said he began to call her name, insistently. She ignored him, she said, and continued working. Suddenly, he came out of the bathroom and stood over her. She turned her head, briefly saw skin and Rose with a towel and jerked back around to avoid the sight. She said he said, “Didn’t you hear me calling you?” She said she told someone in the office, and word got around. A few days later, she said, a male colleague approached her, laughing, “Oh, you got the shower trick.” The woman’s sister confirmed that her sibling had told her about the shower incident soon after it occurred. Another woman said that during her internship in the early 2000s, Rose groped her breasts and stomach as she drove him from Bellport back to Manhattan. Her then-boyfriend, now husband, confirmed that she described the incident to him immediately after it occurred. When Rose invited her to work regularly and stay overnight at Bellport, her boyfriend told her to refuse the offer, and she did, both told The Post. Rose’s eponymous show, with its trademark black background and round oak table, has been in production since 1991. What it lacks in mass viewership, the “Charlie Rose” show makes up for in prestige and high-profile bookings of the likes of former president Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Warren Buffett. Rose’s show is produced by Charlie Rose Inc., an independent television production company, and distributed by PBS. It is filmed at Bloomberg headquarters in Manhattan. Rose’s stature has only grown in recent years. CBS tapped him in 2011 to help revamp its ailing morning show, now called “CBS This Morning,” expanding his audience. He has also been a contributing correspondent for “60 Minutes” for nearly a decade. His 2013 interview of Syria’s president won Emmy and Peabody awards. (None of the women who made accusations against Rose to The Post worked for PBS or CBS.) Representatives from PBS, CBS and Bloomberg said they have no records of sexual harassment complaints about Charlie Rose. When Time magazine named Rose one of its 100 most influential people in 2014, billionaire and former New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg described him as “one of the most important and influential people in journalism.”
Rose, who was divorced in 1980, has long had a reputation as a ladies man. His “CBS This Morning” co-host, Norah O’Donnell, introduced him at a 2014 fundraiser dinner by joking, “We’re all here because with Charlie Rose, one woman is never enough.” Rose graciously accepted honors that night by saying that he was lucky to have worked throughout his career with “women who were smarter, more thoughtful and more eloquent than I was.”
There was also less flattering coverage. The now-defunct Radar magazine in 2007 called him a “toxic bachelor” and repeated an unnamed woman’s claim that Rose had “palmed her buttock like a honeydew.” His then-attorney, David Boies, who has recently drawn criticism for his representation of Harvey Weinstein, demanded a retraction. The magazine refused. The “Charlie Rose” show prides itself on its highbrow intellectual ambition, but his life is glamorous, full of black-tie galas and famous friends. He can be charming and generous, consulting favored employees for their opinions on what to ask heads of state or whisking them off to exotic locations for interviews. But his wrath was swift and often fiercely personal, according to interviews with multiple former employees. “Everybody is terrified of him,” said one of the women who said that Rose groped her when she was an intern. “He creates this environment of constant fear. And then he’ll shine a spotlight on you and make you feel amazing.” Multiple women said they had at first been reassured by the presence of Vega, Rose’s executive producer, who has worked with him for decades. Two women who spoke to The Post said they repeatedly reported Rose’s inappropriate sexual behavior to Vega. Working for the “Charlie Rose” show was a longtime dream for Reah Bravo, who in 2007 was a 29-year-old graduate student studying international affairs at Columbia University. She struggled to make ends meet during her unpaid internship, accruing credit card debt and eating free cereal in the Bloomberg food court. One day, several months into the internship, Rose offered her a side gig at his home in Bellport on Long Island. “Here is the deal: I’ll pay you $2,500 for the week plus all expenses for food, movies etc.,” he wrote to her on Aug. 9, 2007. “You will be there from Monday August 13-Friday afternoon, August 17. Your primary responsibilities are to organize and catalogue all my books and tapes and files ... It will help me a lot, be fun for you, and you will have a car all the time for whatever you need to do.”
Before she left for Bellport, Bravo said Vega told her that personal time with Rose was a key to becoming part of the team. Bravo said she took the train to Bellport, where she said Rose met her at the Ronkonkoma station and took her to a bank to withdraw money to cover her expenses. She stayed at the Bellport home for about a week, sleeping in a bedroom in the main house. Rose was gone much of the time. While she was there, Bravo said she received a message from a male producer. If Rose did anything “sketchy,” she said he told her, she should not hesitate to call the show’s car service to return home. Late one night, Bravo said, Rose returned home after a night out. She said she tried to hurry out of the library in the guesthouse to return to her bedroom in the main house before Rose came in, but he intercepted her. She said he insisted that they have a glass of wine at the dining room table in the main house. Then, he suggested they walk out to his dock and look at the moon, Bravo said. Once there, “he came up from behind me and he put his arms around me,” she said, remembering that she felt a mix of apprehension and confusion. “It reflected his poor judgment. How could a man of his stature and his power be doing something so inappropriate? . . . It seemed reckless.”
Caught off guard, she said she did not know how to respond and endured his embrace. A day or two later, Bravo said, Rose drove her back to Manhattan. She said he began to tell her that he felt very alone in life, despite his wealth and success. He recalled a brush with death a year earlier during heart surgery in Paris and began to tear up, and she said she patted him on the shoulder to console him. “I didn’t necessarily buy it,” she said. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | November 2017 | ['(The Washington Post)'] |
Iraq insurgency: At least eight people are killed and thirty injured in two simultaneous explosions in Baghdad, Iraq. | The attack apparently took place when the vehicles were stopped at a false checkpoint near the town of Yusufiya, a stronghold of Sunni Arab insurgents.
Yusufiya is in the so-called Triangle of Death, which has seen a big increase in attacks in recent years.
Earlier eight died when two bombs exploded in a central Baghdad market.
The busy Shorja wholesale market has been the scene of many deadly attacks.
The blasts, both believed to be caused by car bombs, happened almost simultaneously, officials said.
In a separate development, US authorities offered a reward of up to $50,000 to find a kidnapped soldier.
Iraqi-born Specialist Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie, a reservist, was abducted by gunmen during a visit to his wife's family on 23 October.
In other developments:
More than 100 people have been killed in Iraq in the past four days as Baghdad and other parts of Iraq suffered renewed violence after a curfew imposed for the sentencing of Saddam Hussein was lifted.
On Wednesday, two car bombs set off in busy markets killed at least 10 people, while on Thursday in Baghdad alone 18 people died in a series of bombings. | Armed Conflict | November 2006 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Voters in Brazil go to the polls for the second round of the Brazilian presidential election between Dilma Rousseff and José Serra. Rousseff won 55% of the vote and will become the first female President of Brazil. , , | (CNN) -- Brazil's new president-elect vowed to continue her predecessor's move to fight against inequality and promote human rights and fight poverty in her victory speech Sunday night.
"My mission is to eradicate poverty," Dilma Rousseff said after the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal declared her the winner in Sunday's runoff election.
As the nation's first woman to hold the office, Rousseff said she has a mission to fight for more gender equality in Brazil.
"I hope the fathers and mothers of little girls will look at them and say yes, women can."
Rousseff -- President Luiz Inacio da Silva's right-hand woman -- has served as his chief of staff. Previously, as energy minister, she claims to have helped turn Brazil into one of the world's leading energy giants.
A left-wing guerrilla fighter during the military dictatorship rule in the 1960s, Rousseff said during a congressional hearing that she was "barbarically tortured" after she was charged with subversion by the military regime.
Her opponent, Jose Serra, also suffered persecution during Brazil's military rule and was forced into exile during the 1960s.
A centrist politician, he served as health minister during Fernando Henrique Cardoso's government. He recently left his job as governor of Brazil's richest state, Sao Paulo, to run for presidency.
Millions of voters lined up across Brazil's vast territory to vote in the heated runoff.
In 60 Brazilian cities, voters used their thumbs instead of ballots on a newly launched biometric system, where voters scan their fingers to log in and vote.
TSE officials said all regions, however remote, will have the ubiquitous electronic voting machine. In indigenous areas in the Amazon, these voting machines were delivered by boats and helicopters. It costs the state of Amazonas 5 million reais. (U.S. $3 million) to place the voting machines.
One of the most challenging trajectories, officials said, is the one to Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira, a densly-forested area in the Amazon.
"There, our electronic machines first leave Manaus by plane," said Pedro Batista, TSE Director for the Amazon.
"It's loaded onto a helicopter, and then travels by boat before being carried on some one's back for a long walk to a remote village," he said. | Government Job change - Election | October 2010 | ['(Latin American Herald Tribune)', '(BBC)', '(CNN)'] |
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he will pardon jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky after more than a decade in prison. | MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he intends to pardon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, his country’s most famous political prisoner, in a broad amnesty that comes just weeks before the opening of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The amnesty is expected to free hundreds of prisoners, including two Pussy Riot performers and others, and Khodorkovsky, a former oil tycoon and one of Putin’s most despised enemies. Each case, starting with Khodorkovsky’s 10 years ago, became emblematic of Putin’s intention to impose absolute control over his country, its courts and its powerful billionaires. Their proposed release sends a strong and unexpected message to the West.
“It’s about Sochi and his image,” said Matthew Rojansky, director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center. “He’s demonstrating he’s in control and not running scared.”
Putin has made the Olympics, which open Feb. 7, a point of personal pride, an opportunity to show the world a modern Russia created by his force of will. But as he has imposed increasingly repressive measures to consolidate his authority, he has antagonized the United States and other countries, which have grown more critical about limits on gay rights and the jailing of opponents. In recent days, more and more high-level international officials have announced their intention to stay away from Sochi.
The amnesty offers the West an unforeseen opportunity to mend deteriorating relations with Russia, said Rojansky, a longtime Russia scholar. “You have to welcome it and demonstrate for the Russian people that you take this seriously,” he said. “It’s very cynical, it’s very smart, and it’s very Putin.”
Khodorkovsky, once the fabulously wealthy founder of the Yukos oil corporation, has been behind bars since 2003, when he was arrested at gunpoint in Siberia on charges of fraud and tax evasion. In Russia, where the courts regularly take orders directly from political authorities, the case was widely seen as a warning from Putin. He would tolerate no challenge, and anyone who dared to defy him could expect to share the fate of Khodorkovsky, who had angered Putin by financing political opposition to him.
After a news conference Thursday, Putin told reporters that he planned to sign an order pardoning Khodorkovsky “in the nearest time.” Khodorkovsky has served 10 years in jail and was due out in August. “It’s a serious term,” Putin said. Even as the amnesty was being prepared, it appeared that Khodorkovsky would not be included. He has faced two trials. The first, in which he was found guilty of tax evasion and fraud in 2005, was followed by a trial in 2010 in which he was accused of stealing all of the oil produced at Yukos during the years he served as head of the company. Khodorkovsky has consistently denied those charges.
Over the past few weeks, senior Russian lawmakers have indicated that a fresh case was being prepared against Khodorkovsky that could preclude his release in 2014.
However, before announcing plans to pardon Khodorkovsky on Thursday, Putin said a third case against the prisoner was unlikely to materialize. “I do not understand at all where the case is. I have heard that they talk about it, but for now I do not see any threats for anyone there,” Putin said at the news conference.
Explaining the decision to release Khodorkovsky, Putin said the jailed tycoon had written a letter appealing for clemency, saying that his mother was ill.
However, Vadim Klyuvgant, an attorney for Khodorkovsky, was unable to confirm that his client had asked for a pardon. “We don’t have this information, although we’ve received a number of pardon appeals on his behalf from other people over the years,” he said.
According to the Russian constitution, the president has the power to pardon prisoners without first receiving an appeal for clemency, Klyuvgant told the Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy.
Khodorkovsky’s mother, Marina Khodorkovsky, said she had not seen her son since July and had received no information that he planned to appeal for clemency. “He needs to be released — his children and even grandchildren grew up without him. Only someone who spent 10 years in prison can judge his decisions,” she told the Interfax news agency.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Putin, indicated that Khodorkovsky had admitted wrongdoing in a letter to the Russian president.
“His amnesty request to the president has been submitted. If he is asking to be pardoned, this means he is admitting guilt,” Peskov told Interfax.
Khodorkovsky was one of the first generation of Russian oligarchs who parlayed close ties with the Kremlin to win lucrative assets during controversial privatizations in the 1990s after the Soviet Union fell apart. These men, who had grown up in a political climate in which private wealth was taboo, seized the opportunity to build vast oil, metals and banking empires that underpinned Russia’s economy. Extremely rich and politically influential, the oligarchs were resented by many ordinary Russians, who saw them as no more than robber barons. Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s first president, looked to the oligarchy for support and largely turned a blind eye to the often bloody battles between rival groups competing for the crown jewels of the economy. When Putin came to power in 2000, he moved to rein in the oligarchs and reassert state control over Russia’s strategic natural resources. Some oligarchs fled in the early Putin years, sensing that the game was up.
But oil prices were soaring, and Khodorkovsky, who had built Yukos into Russia’s biggest oil producer, decided to challenge Putin. Without seeking Kremlin approval, Yukos began negotiating a strategic tie-up with Exxon and planning to build a privately owned oil export pipeline to China. Khodorkovsky also turned to philanthropy and began funding liberal and opposition groups, which angered Putin.
After Khodorkovsky was arrested, Yukos was dismantled and sold off at bankruptcy auctions. Rosneft, Russia’s state oil company, was the main beneficiary of the sales.
Putin announced the decision to pardon Khodorkovsky one day after Russia’s parliament approved an amnesty clearing the way for the early release of hundreds of prisoners.
Speaking after the news conference, Putin confirmed that the amnesty would apply to two members of the Pussy Riot punk band and 30 Greenpeace activists who are awaiting trial on bail in Russia after staging an offshore protest against Arctic drilling.
In a dramatic development, three of the defendants in the Bolotnaya case were released Thursday in a Moscow courtroom, where they were on trial for participating in mass riots at an anti-government rally last year.
In all, 27 Russians have been charged in connection with the disturbances that took place on the eve of Putin’s inauguration to a third term in May 2012. Cases against 12 have gone to trial.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | December 2013 | ['(Washington Post)'] |
The Brazilian Development Bank announces plans to repay up to $29 billion in loans to the Government of Brazil in order to stem a burgeoning deficit. | RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil’s state development bank BNDES plans to repay up to 100 billion reais ($29 billion) in loans owed to the federal government using a mix of cash and securities, Chief Executive Officer Maria Sílvia Bastos Marques said, a move that could help curb rapid public debt growth.
With the federal auditing court earlier on Wednesday ruling that the repayment is legal and the BNDES agreeing to repay the loans in full before the end of this year, the deal should help the government stem a budget deficit that could hit a record for a second year.
In an interview at the bank’s Rio de Janeiro headquarters on Tuesday, Bastos said that BNDES would not use any of the 70 billion reais worth of equity holdings that it owns through investment arm BNDES Participações SA to fund the repayment.
“Brazil’s first, second and third priority is fixing public finances,” Bastos, 59, said. “We’re doing our part.”
Bastos had suggested in the interview that BNDES could accelerate the repayment of the loans - originally planned for three annual installments - if the government agreed to ease the bank’s dividend payout to the Treasury. In the statement in which BNDES announced the early repayment, nothing about a change to payouts was mentioned.
She voiced agreement with Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles that the repayment should be used to cut Brazil’s national debt, and not to help debt-laden states, as proposed by some ministers.
Since her appointment in May, Bastos has spearheaded the most ambitious turnaround of BNDES in two decades, reversing years of costly support for handpicked corporate ‘national champions’.
She is imposing tougher terms for disbursements, asking BNDES-appointed board members to tighten scrutiny of decisions at major firms, and championing corporate transparency.
‘MAKING PROGRESS’
“The bank has been affected by disputes and policies like the national champions for years ... We can’t fix it all in one day, but we are making progress,” Bastos said.
As part of that drive, Bastos said BNDES will disburse loans pegged to below-market interest rates mainly for projects that have “significant social impact,” such as sanitation.
While details of the new disbursement policy will be announced next month, Bastos wants companies that can tap money elsewhere to consume less subsidized credit.
Since being founded in 1952, BNDES has been practically Brazil’s sole source of long-term corporate funding - weakening public finances and squeezing commercial lenders out of capital markets.
Between 2009 and 2013, BNDES annually disbursed three times as much in loans as the World Bank. However, the end of a commodities boom and rampant government spending helped tip Brazil’s economy into a painful recession now in its second year.
Bastos wants to dilute onerous local content requirements for loan approvals, with new guidelines announced in June. She also wants Congress to end legal secrecy on subsidized loans to corporations to enhance transparency.
Bastos is nearing a solution to a rise in defaulted airport operating licensees. BNDES is willing to discuss a request by the operators of Rio de Janeiro’s international airport to ease license repayments over time.
The operators - Odebrecht SA and Singapore’s Changi Airport Group - would pay smaller installments in the first years, gradually increasing as the end of the 25-year concession approaches. The accord hinges on regulatory approval, she said.
Bastos is also rethinking policies at BNDESPar, which has stakes or holds debt in 116 Brazilian companies. It has board seats on 45.
“We want to have more say in the companies’ boards,” said Eliane Lustosa, the bank’s vice president for capital markets, in the same interview.
A first sign of this stance was BNDES’ veto of meatpacker JBS SA’s global reorganization last month.
Bastos said BNDES and BNDESPar need to analyze how to exit some equity stakes, which she believes are sometimes being held too long.
“We’re a patient investor but patience has its limits,” Bastos said. BNDESPar is Brazil’s largest long-term holder of equity investments.
As part of a drive to promote capital markets, BNDESPar will hire a private asset manager to run some of BNDES’s tax-exempt local debt holdings. The move could help boost the allure of the securities, Lustosa said.
($1 = 3.4092 reais)
| Government Policy Changes | November 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
B.J. Habibie, reformist Indonesian president, dies at 83, after spending more than a week in intensive care. | B.J. Habibie, a former Indonesian president who allowed democratic reforms and an independence referendum for East Timor following the ouster of the dictator Suharto, died Sept. 11 at an army hospital in Jakarta. He was 83.
Mr. Habibie, Indonesia’s third president, had been undergoing treatment for heart problems, said his son, Thareq Kemal Habibie.
Mr. Habibie’s unpopular presidency was the shortest in modern Indonesia’s history but was transformative. He was tapped to lead Indonesia by Suharto as the military dictator’s 32-year hold on power crumbled in May 1998 during a student uprising and a devastating economic crash. It ended after only 16 months, in October 1999, when he withdrew from contention in presidential elections.
An engineer educated in Indonesia, the Netherlands and Germany, Mr. Habibie spent nearly two decades working for German aircraft maker Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm before returning to Indonesia in 1974 to help lead Suharto’s campaign to industrialize the economy.
As president, Mr. Habibie apologized for past human rights abuses and outlined an eight-point reform program “to build a just, open and democratic society.” He ordered the release of political prisoners, dismantled restrictions on the news media and reformed politics to allow free elections.
He lifted a three-decade ban on the speaking and teaching of Mandarin as part of an easing of discriminatory policies against ethnic Chinese that was instituted by Suharto after his anti-communist pogroms of 1965-66.
Responding to international criticism of Indonesia’s occupation of Portugal’s former colony of East Timor, Mr. Habibie surprised Indonesians by announcing in January 1999 a plan to hold a referendum under U.N. supervision on self-determination, offering a choice between special autonomy and independence.
Indonesian militias sought to intimidate people into voting for continued union, but East Timorese voted overwhelmingly to split from Indonesia.
In 2017, the young democracy held presidential and parliamentary elections that were the first without U.N. supervision since peacekeepers left in 2012.
Despite his reforms, Mr. Habibie was unable to master the political tumult unleashed by the student uprising.
He described the bloody riots that ended Suharto’s dictatorship as “barbaric,” further alienating students who feared he was betraying their democratic revolution and staged violent protests against his presidency.
A failure to prosecute a longtime friend over allegations of massive corruption undermined his campaign to stay in power. On Oct. 20, 1999, Mr. Habibie withdrew from upcoming presidential elections.
Parliament was already moving to elect a new head of state after lawmakers rejected his “accountability” speech on the successes and failures of his months in office.
Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie was born in the South Sulawesi town of Parepare on June 25, 1936, and was the fourth of eight siblings.
His father was of native Sulawesi descent and his mother a Javanese noblewoman from the ancient sultanate of Yogyakarta. His wife, Hasri Ainun Habibie, a medical doctor, died in 2010. A complete list of survivors was not immediately available.
| Famous Person - Death | September 2019 | ['(The Washington Post)'] |
The first death due to cholera is confirmed in Mozambique, with confirmed cases rising to 517. | Beira, Mozambique -- Mozambique's cyclone-hit city of Beira has confirmed its first death from cholera, as the number of cases of the disease has jumped to 517. To control the outbreak emergency clinics have been set up across Beira, a city of 500,000, said Mozambican national health director Ussene Isse, according to broadcaster TVM.
Cases of the acute diarrheal disease have risen dramatically since the first five cases were confirmed last week. Cyclone Idai severely damaged the water system for Beira, a city of 500,000, when it hit on March 14.
Some 900,000 cholera vaccine doses were set to arrive on Monday, according to the World Health Organization.
Cholera is spread by contaminated water and food. It can kill within hours but is relatively easy to treat.
The overall cyclone death toll in Mozambique is now 518. With 259 deaths in Zimbabwe and 56 in Malawi, the three-nation death toll is more than 815.
Authorities warn the tolls are preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies.
The Chinese government has sent doctors and emergency workers to fight the cholera outbreak in Beira and Chinese aid workers sprayed anti-cholera disinfectant in parts of the port city.
The U.S. military joined the international humanitarian aid efforts to Mozambique by airlifting food and relief supplies from South Africa.
Round-the-clock flights are delivering supplies from the U.N. World Food Program from King Shaka International Airport in Durban, South Africa, said Robert Mearkle, U.S. embassy spokesman.
He said the commodities airlifted from Durban were from the World Food Program's internal stock.
"Separately from these shipments, the United States has provided nearly $3.4 million in additional funding for the World Food Program to deliver approximately 2,500 metric tons of rice, peas, and vegetable oil to affected people in Sofala, Zambezia, and Manica provinces," said Mearkle. "This lifesaving emergency food assistance will support approximately 160,000 people for one month."
Beira's crowded, poor neighborhoods are especially at risk. Doctors Without Borders has said it is seeing some 200 likely cholera cases per day in the city, where relief workers are hurrying to restore the damaged water system and bring in additional medical assistance.
Cholera is a major concern for the hundreds of thousands of cyclone survivors in the southern African nation now living in squalid conditions in camps, schools or damaged homes. Some drink from contaminated wells or filthy, stagnant water.
As health responders stress the need for better disease surveillance, the United Nations' deputy humanitarian coordinator in Mozambique, Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, has said all cases of diarrhea are being treated as though they are cholera.
Cholera is endemic to the region, and "it breaks out fast and it travels extremely fast," he told reporters.
Doctors Without Borders has said other suspected cholera cases have been reported outside Beira in the badly hit areas of Buzi, Tica and Nhamathanda but the chance of spread in rural areas is smaller because people are more dispersed.
Mozambican officials have said Cyclone Idai destroyed more than 50 health centers in the region, complicating response efforts.
The United Nations has said some 1.8 million people need urgent help across the sodden, largely rural region.
| Disease Outbreaks | April 2019 | ['(CBS News)', '(The Independent)'] |
Kuwait foils an al Qaedalinked plan to bomb a United States army camp and other "important facilities" in the country. | KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait said on Tuesday it had foiled an al Qaeda-linked plan to bomb a U.S. Army camp and other “important facilities” in the OPEC oil exporting state.
Thousands of tanks, truck, trailers and other military vehicles are seen at a staging area at the U.S. Army's Camp Arifjan in Kuwait in an undated photo. REUTERS/U.S. Army/Handout
An Interior Ministry statement said all six members of the al Qaeda-linked cell had confessed after being arrested. It did not say if the targeted facilities included oil industry plants in Kuwait, the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter.
“The state security has uncovered a terrorist network following al Qaeda, and includes six (Kuwaiti) citizens who have planned to carry out a plan to bomb Arifjan Camp, the state security building and other important facilities,” the ministry said.
Camp Arifjan is located south of Kuwait City and serves as a staging ground for forces deploying in Iraq.
In Washington, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell applauded the Kuwaiti government action and said it looked like an attack on U.S. interests had been imminent.
“I can just tell you at this point, with what little information I have, that -- that it does, indeed, look as though this group was attempting to target U.S. forces,” Morrell said.
“I don’t think it is clear at this point that Camp Arifjan was necessarily where they were plotting their attack, but clearly U.S. forces were among those they wanted to hit, based upon our initial assessment.”
Related Coverage
Kuwait, the launch pad for the 2003 U.S.-led war on Iraq which ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, remains a logistics base for the U.S. Army to support its troops in Iraq.
The planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq has not discouraged al Qaeda from planning attacks on U.S.-allied Arab countries, including Kuwait, political analyst Shafiq Ghabra said.
“Their issue is not the withdrawal of the U.S. (troops), it’s also their ... regime, the existing elite, the existing ruling families,” he said.
Al Qaeda is now struggling to show they exist after setbacks in Iraq and Pakistan, Ghabra added. “They are trying to hit wherever they feel there is a weakness.”
After the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, there were a number of al Qaeda-inspired attacks in Kuwait, including a raid that killed one U.S. Marine and wounded another in October 2002. The government has since waged a largely successful campaign to stamp out violence by Islamist militants.
In addition, Pakistani and U.S. officials say they are quite certain Pakistani Taliban chief and al Qaeda cohort Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a missile strike by a U.S. drone last week, although senior Taliban commanders deny their leader is dead.
Al Qaeda’s wing in Yemen named a new leader earlier this year and said the group would expand the scope of its attacks to all Gulf Arab states, including top world oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
| Armed Conflict | August 2009 | ['(The Irish Times)', '(Reuters)', '(BBC)'] |
Four people are killed after a light aircraft crashes near the village of Churchstanton in Somerset. | Two men and two women were in the plane which came down in a field near Churchinford shortly before midday.
They were heading from the Surrey area towards Dunkeswell Aerodrome, in east Devon, which is five miles (8km) from the crash site.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has been informed and is deploying a team of investigators.
Supt Richard Corrigan, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: "This is a very sad incident in which four people have tragically lost their lives.
"It's too early to give any further details about the victims but we're ensuring specially trained officers are making contact with their next-of-kin and giving them all the support they need.
"We've been working very closely with our colleagues from the other emergency services at the scene to make the area safe and ensure the resulting investigation can proceed.
"There are road closures in place and we'd respectfully ask people not to attend the scene."
Emergency crews from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service and South Western Ambulance Service were sent to the scene, along with the Devon Air Ambulance and a police helicopter.
| Air crash | November 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
The search continues for survivors in central Italy with the death toll now 241. An aftershock of 4.7 MMS hits further east in the province near Norcia. | 26 Aug 2016, 2:21am
The death toll from the powerful earthquake in central Italy has reached 250, amid fears many more bodies remain buried in the rubble of devastated mountain villages.
As rescuers sifted through collapsed masonry in the search for survivors, questions mounted as to why there had been so many deaths so soon after the 2009 L'Aquila disaster, exposing Italy's vulnerability to earthquakes.
"In Amatrice alone we are already over 200 deaths," said Sergio Pirozzi, the mayor of one of the worst-affected villages, suggesting the total number of victims could rise significantly.
Amatrice normally has a population of around 2,500 but it was packed with visitors when the quake struck as people slept in the early hours of Wednesday.
The fate of 28 of 32 guests staying in the village's Hotel Roma was still unclear.
The Red Cross began shipping in food and water supplies for homeless residents.
Among those who came to pick up emergency provisions were Maria Atrimala, 48, and her 15-year-old daughter. "We escaped by pure luck, the stairs of the house held and we ran, blindly in the dark and dust," she said with tears rolling down her face.
"When we got out we could hear the cries of people still trapped and we helped those we could.
"We were in L'Aquila when the earthquake struck there, and now this. We have friends, relatives that didn't make it. What the future holds I don't know."
Although rescue workers were pessimistic about the chance of finding any more survivors, officials stressed that the last survivor in nearby L'Aquila in the 2009 quake was pulled from the rubble some 72 hours after it struck.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was chairing an emergency cabinet meeting on the crisis.
"The objective is to rebuild and start again," he said, vowing lessons would be learned from L'Aquila, which still bears huge scars from the 2009 quake that left 300 people dead.
After L'Aquila, the Civil Protection agency made almost 1 billion euros available for upgrading buildings in seismically-vulnerable areas.
But the take-up of grants has been low, largely because of the cumbersome application process, according to critics.
"Here in the middle of a seismic zone, nothing has ever been done," said Dario Nanni of the Italian Council of Architects.
"It does not cost that much more when renovating a building to make it comply with earthquake standards. But less than 20 per cent of buildings do."
Mr Nanni said the quake's impact had been increased by the widespread use of cement rather than wood beams.
"These indestructible beams hit walls like a hammer and that is what made so many (houses) collapse."
One building which was supposed to be quake-proof was the Romolo Capranica school in Amatrice, which collapsed on Wednesday.
That was in sharp contrast to the oldest building in the town, the 13th-century Civic Tower, which was still standing Thursday, despite having been shaken sufficiently to detach its bell.
The bell tower in nearby Accumoli did collapse, onto a quake-proofed house next door, killing a couple and their two toddlers.
Local mayor Stefano Petrucci denied there had been negligence in the maintenance of the tower.
"I don't want to get into a row about that now, we are already suffering too much," he said.
Family members cry and hold each other as they watch the body of their relative being removed in Amatrice, Italy, August 25, 2016, after an earthquake hit the region. (ABC: Lisa Millar)
A sheet is held up as a body is removed from the rubble in Amatrice, Italy, August 25, 2016, after an earthquake hit the region. (ABC: Lisa Millar)
People are seen preparing to spend the night in a gym following an earthquake in Amatrice, central Italy, August 25, 2016. (Reuters: Ciro De Luca)
A missing wall of a house in Amatrice, Italy leaving the dresser exposed after an earthquake struck, August 26, 2016. (ABC: Lisa Millar)
Workers from a northern Italian alpine team who came from 600 kilometres away with sniffer dogs to help the rescue efforts in Amatrice, Italy after an earthquake, August 25, 2016. (ABC: Lisa Millar)
Cars sit amidst the rubble from earthquake damaged buildings in the central Italian village of Pescara del Tronto on August 25,2016 a day after a magnitude of between 6.0 and 6.2. earthquake struck the region killing some 247 people. (AFP: Marco Zeppetella)
A firefighter works in the night at a collapsed house following an earthquake in Amatrice, central Italy, August 24, 2016. (Reuters: Stefano Rellandini)
Damaged houses are pictured in Pescara del Tronto on August 25, 2016, a day after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the region killing some 247 people. (AFP: Marco Zeppetella)
People cover themselves with blankets as they prepare to spend the night in the open following an earthquake in Amatrice, central Italy, on August 24, 2016. (Reuters: Stefano Rellandin)
Rescuers work through the rubble in Amatrice, central Italy. (Reuters: Stefano Rellandini)
Rescue and emergency services personnel carry away a survivor on a stretcher during search and rescue operations following the earthquake in Amatrice. (AFP: Fillipo Monteforte)
Residents reacts among the rubble after a strong earthquake hit Amatrice on August 24, 2016 (AFP: Filippo Monteforte)
Rescuers search among damaged buildings after a strong earthquake hit central Italy, in Arquata del Tronto on August 24, 2016. (AFP)
People stand by a road following a quake in Amatrice, central Italy, August 24, 2016. (Reuters: Emiliano Grillotti )
A woman among rubble following a quake in Amatrice, central Italy, on August 24, 2016. (Reuters: Remo Casilli)
People stand along the road following a quake in Amatrice, central Italy, August 24, 2016. (Reuters: Remo Casilli)
People stand among rubble after an earthquake in Amatrice, Italy on August 24, 2016. (Reuters: Remo Casilli)
A man is rescued alive from the ruins following an earthquake in Amatrice, central Italy, on August 24, 2016. (Reuters: Remo Casilli)
A man reacts to his damaged home after a strong earthquake hit Amatrice, Italy, on August 24, 2016. (AFP: Filippo Monteforte)
A man reacts after a strong heathquake hit Amatrice on August 24, 2016 when Central Italy was struck by a powerful, 6.2-magnitude earthquake in the early hours. (AFP: Filippo Monteforte)
Paolo (left) turns his head as paramedics move in to take his uncle's body away. (ABC News: Lisa Millar)
Three people died in this home in Amatrice. (ABC News: Lisa Millar)
| Earthquakes | August 2016 | ['(AFP via ABC News Australia)', '(USA Today)', '(USGS)', '(Financial Times)'] |
The British government has indicated it is rethinking its controversial proposal to offer 50% sentence cuts to criminals in England and Wales who enter early guilty pleas. | The government is rethinking its controversial proposal to offer 50% sentence cuts for early guilty pleas in England and Wales.
The PM and justice secretary met on Tuesday to discuss the plan - part of wider reforms of sentencing policy.
Officials insist no final decision has been made but sources say it is unlikely the policy will survive.
And David Cameron has decided there will definitely be no 50% sentence discount for rapists.
Discussions about whether people who plead guilty to less serious crimes at an early stage should still be eligible for a sentence reduction of up to 50% are thought to be ongoing. The plans are part of a wider package of proposals put out to public consultation aimed at reforming sentencing and reducing the prison population. The sentence discount proposal was expected to save £130m from the Ministry of Justice budget. It is understood the prime minister and Mr Clarke met on Tuesday to discuss what would be going into the government's sentencing bill, which is due to be published within the next few weeks.
Asked to confirm that the policy had been dropped, Mr Cameron told MPs at prime minister's questions on Wednesday: "What we want is tough sentences for serious offenders. We produced a consultation paper that had widespread support for many of the proposals that it made and in the coming weeks we will be publishing our legislation."
Mr Miliband said there was "widespread public concern" about the proposal and asked Mr Cameron if he had "torn it up, yes or no?".
The prime minister said Mr Miliband's own shadow justice secretary had described the package of reforms as "a perfectly sensible vision for a sentencing policy" in-keeping with Labour's record in government - and suggested it was Mr Miliband who had undergone "a sudden U-turn". The Labour leader said: "He is in a total mess on his sentencing policy, just like on all of his other crime policy." But the prime minister said: "It was actually the last government that introduced a 33% discount on sentences, so there is more than a whiff of jumping on a bandwagon." The Ministry of Justice has been told to find £2bn savings from its £8.7bn budget and Mr Clarke also wants to reduce the 85,000 prison population in England and Wales by 3,000. Treasury sources say they will not "re-open negotiations" on the Ministry of Justice's budget.
Mr Clarke has faced much opposition to his proposals from some of his fellow Conservative MPs - last month backbencher Philip Davies urged him to quit so the Tories could "restore our reputation as a party of law and order" . Mr Clarke argued that by increasing the number of guilty pleas, the proposal would spare victims and witnesses the "unpleasantness" of the court experience. But Downing Street has played down suggestions that the justice secretary's position may be vulnerable. A source said the prime minister had "huge amounts of respect" for Mr Clarke and there had been "a proper two-way discussion" between the two over the rethink.
Mr Cameron also praised his justice secretary in response to a separate Commons question on whether Mr Clarke was too old, at 71, for his job, saying: "He's doing a superb job and there's plenty more fuel in his tank."
The sentence discount proposal had been criticised by top judges and Victims Commissioner Louise Casey.
And Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said she had concerns that people with learning disabilities and mental health needs might plead guilty just to "get out of that particular situation".
However, she praised the overall package as "a coherent and sensible blueprint for reform" that had been drawn up after a "very thorough" public consultation.
Last month Mr Clarke denied claims that the proposal could see some rapists serving just 15 months in prison.
But he got into trouble during the BBC Radio 5 live interview when he talked about "serious rape with violence and an unwilling woman". Labour leader Ed Miliband said he should resign for effectively suggesting there were "other categories of rape".
The justice secretary later clarified his comments by saying that "all rape is a serious crime".
| Government Policy Changes | June 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
Data from the flight data recorder reveals that the plane was deliberately accelerated before crashing into the French Alps. | Data from the second 'black box' flight recorder belonging to the Germanwings plane that crashed in the Alps suggests that the co-pilot deliberately accelerated its descent, French investigators say.
They say Andreas Lubitz modified the automatic pilot system several times to increase the speed of descent.
The information they recovered also confirms earlier findings that Lubitz deliberately crashed the plane.
All 150 people on board died.
The plane had been flying from Barcelona to Duesseldorf on 24 March.
The second flight recorder, recovered on Thursday, showed that "the pilot in the cockpit used the automatic pilot to put the plane on a descent towards an altitude of 100ft (30m)", the French BEA crash investigation agency said in a statement.
"Then several times the pilot modified the automatic pilot settings to increase the speed of the plane as it descended," it added.
Earlier findings from the cockpit voice recorder suggested Lubitz locked the pilot out of the cockpit.
On Thursday, German prosecutors said the co-pilot had researched suicide methods and the security of cockpit doors on the internet the week before the crash.
Germanwings also said it was unaware that Lubitz, 27, had experienced depression while he was training to be a pilot. Lufthansa confirmed on Tuesday that it knew six years ago that the co-pilot had suffered from an episode of "severe depression'' before he finished his flight training.
``We didn't know this,'' said Vanessa Torres, a spokeswoman for Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings, which hired Lubitz in September 2013.
The second "black box" recovered is the flight data recorder (FDR) which holds technical information on the time of radio transmissions and the plane's acceleration, airspeed, altitude and direction, plus the use of auto-pilot.
Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said it was found near a ravine and was not discovered immediately because it was the same colour as the rocks.
He said 150 separate DNA profiles had been isolated from the crash site but he stressed that did not mean all the victims had been identified.
Mr Robin added that 40 mobile phones had been also been recovered and would be analysed in a laboratory, although were "heavily damaged".
The final minutes
Lubitz began the jet's descent at 10:31 (09:31 GMT) on 24 March, shortly after the A320 had made its final contact with air traffic control. Little more than eight minutes later, it had crashed into a mountain near Seyne-les-Alpes.
| Air crash | April 2015 | ['(Reuters)', '(BBC)', '(Guardian)'] |
Moldovans head to the polls to elect their President. Incumbent Igor Dodon seeks a second term against main opposition candidate and former Prime Minister Maia Sandu, who wants closer ties with the European Union. | CHISINAU (Reuters) - A late surge from Moldova’s diaspora voters gave the pro-Western challenger Maia Sandu the lead in the first round of Sunday’s presidential election, setting the stage for a run-off against pro-Moscow incumbent Igor Dodon in the second round.
Sandu, a Harvard-educated former World Bank economist known for her tough stance on corruption, led with 36.1% while Dodon had 32.66%, according to data from the election commission with 99.81%% of votes counted.
A candidate needs over 50% of the vote to avoid the Nov. 15 runoff, which would be a repeat of the 2016 election, when Dodon defeated Sandu in the second round.
The election in the nation of 3.5 million, where the West and Russia vie for influence, took place in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic that has pushed one of Europe’s poorest countries into a sharp economic downturn.
“This is an extraordinary mobilization. Thank you,” Sandu said about diaspora voters.
Dodon had taken power four years ago after pro-Western political forces became mired in scandals.
Sandu led a coalition government last year that was brought down within months by a no-confidence vote.
Related Coverage
If elected, she has promised to secure more financial support from Brussels, while Dodon has pledged to roll out a settlement next year for the breakaway Russian-speaking region of Transdniestria.
The European Union forged a deal in 2014 on closer trade and political ties with the ex-Soviet republic, which is squeezed between EU member Romania and Ukraine, but became increasingly critical of Chisinau’s track record on reforms.
Sandu has received messages of support from German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, and former European Council President Donald Tusk.
A group of Dodon’s supporters denounced such support as an attempt to destabilise the country.
Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s SVR Foreign Intelligence Service, accused the United States last week of plotting to instigate mass protests against Dodon as punishment for him fostering good relations with Moscow.
Naryshkin similarly accused Washington of fomenting revolution in Belarus, where Moscow-backed President Alexander Lukashenko has battled months of protests following a contested election.
| Government Job change - Election | November 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Australian painter Del Kathryn Barton wins the 2013 Archibald Prize for her portrait of actor Hugo Weaving. | Updated 22 Mar 2013, 11:02amFri 22 Mar 2013, 11:02am
Del Kathryn Barton's winning entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features actor Hugo Weaving. Watercolour, gouache and acrylic on canvas, 200 x 180cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Self portrait - harlequin: Heidi Yardley's entry in the Archibald Prize 2013. Oil on board 58 x 42cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Application: Natasha Bieniek's self-portrait entry in the Archibald Prize 2013. Oil on dibond 9 x 9cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Self portrait - Morning Bay: Joshua Yeldham's entry in the Archibald Prize 2013. Instrument, cane, shells and oil on carved board 200 x 244cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Habit de jardinier: Carlo Pagoda's entry in the Archibald Prize 2013 features his father Pietro Pagoda. Oil and permanent marker on stainless steel 197 x 116cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Bad Dad: Michael Zavros's entry to the Archibald Prize 2013 is a self-portrait in which the artist casts himself in the role of Narcissus from the ancient Greek myth. Oil on canvas 110 x 150cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Portrait of Melbourne sculptor Nicholas Jones, 2012: Julia Ciccarone's entry in the Archibald Prize 2013. Oil on linen 91.5 x 76cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Sarah Hendy's entry for the Archibald Prize 2013 features Sydney-based painter and sculptor Jasper Knight. Oil on aluminium, 50 x 50cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
McLean Edwards's entry in the Archibald Prize 2013 features Glen Barkley, a curator at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art. Acrylic on canvas, 159 x 153cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Fight Club: Jason Benjamin's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features artist McLean Edwards. Oil on linen, 180 x 180cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Dear Trustees (Self Portrait) 2013: Michael Lindeman's entry in the Archibald Prize 2013. Pencil and acrylic on canvas 204 x 142cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Gageler: John Emmerig's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features Justice Stephen Gageler, who was appointed to the High Court in October 2012. Oil and acrylic, 157.5 x 248.5cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Julie Dowling's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features Wilfred Hicks, an elder of the Wong-goo-tt-oo people of the West Pilbara coast. Acrylic, red ochre on canvas, 152.4 x 110.6cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Fiona Lowry's entry to the 2013 Archibald Prize features contemporary artist Shaun Gladwell. Acrylic on canvas 76.5 x 112cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Abbey McCulloch's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features actress Naomi Watts. Oil on canvas 90 x 90cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Sally Ryan's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize is a portrait of Dr Catherine Hamlin, an Australian obstetrician and gynaecologist who co-founded a hospital in Addis Ababa. Oil on linen, 105 x 75cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Mathew Lynn's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features novelist, presenter and former model Tara Moss and won the Packing Room Prize. Oil on linen; 214cm x 107cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
The Man: Abdul Abdullah's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features boxer and former NRL player Anthony Mundine. Oil on canvas 150 x 120cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Love face: Vincent Fantauzzo's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features his sweetheart, actor Asher Keddie. Oil on linen, 174 x 304cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Self portrait: Mitch Cairns's entry in the Archibald Prize 2013. Oil on linen 49 x 59cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Anything goes (Venus vamp - Burlesque star): Wendy Sharpe's entry in the Archibald Prize 2013. Oil on canvas 152 x 122cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Corro: Alan Jones's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features businessman and art collector Pat Corrigan. Oil on linen, 155 x 124cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Simulations: Giles Alexander's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features SBS television presenter Lily Serna. Oil, ink and resin on aluminium, 60 x 37cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Alexander McKenzie's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize is a portrait of actress Toni Collette. Oil on linen, 244 x 197cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Ben Quilty, Where is my mind? (after the Pixies): James Powditch's entry in the Archibald Prize 2013 features 2011 prize-winner Ben Quilty. Mixed media 235 x 138cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
David Griggs's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize is a portrait of artist TV Moore. Acrylic on canvas, 280 x 255cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
The emergency of being: Imants Tillers's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize is a self-portrait. Acrylic, gouache on 25 canvas boards. (Supplied: AGNSW)
The light is a drip on a dark hood: Jasper Knight's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features artist Adam Cullen, who won the Archibald in 2000 and died in July 2012. Enamel and acrylic on aluminium, 200 x 150cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Self portrait (interviewing Maoist victims): Xu Wang's entry in the Archibald Prize 2013. Oil and acrylic on board 244 x 368cm (Supplied: AGNSW)
Portrait of Ella: Joshua McPherson's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize is a portrait of 11-year-old performer Ella Nicol. Oil on canvas, 110 x 76cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Ukulele: Prudence Flint's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features young academic Athena Bellas. Oil on linen, 122 x 102cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
The Patriot - Self portrait with Albino Joey: Peter Daverington's entry in the Archibald Prize 2013. Oil and gold leaf on canvas 203 x 153cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Warwick Gilbert's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize is a portrait of musician and songwriter Don Walker. Acrylic, 190 x 190cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Amanda Marburg's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features iconic Australian art director and designer Ken Done. Oil on linen 120 x 155cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Michael Vale's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features musician Warren Ellis, a member of three bands - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dirty Three and Grinderman. Oil on linen, 182.5 x 152cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Derwish - A portrait of Bille Brown: Mertim Gokalp's entry in the Archibald Prize 2013. Oil on canvas, 180 X 140cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Guy Morgan with Peter Pan after retinal detachment: Guy Morgan's self-portrait entry in the Archibald Prize 2013. Oil on canvas, 184.5 x 184.5cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Portrait of the artist as a young man: Marcus Callum's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize features his son Sebastian. Oil on canvas, 80 x 60cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Jo: Paul Jackson's entry in the 2013 Archibald Prize is a portrait of artist Joanna Braithwaite. Oil on linen, 180 x 298cm. (Supplied: AGNSW)
Sydney-based artist Del Kathryn Barton has won the 2013 Archibald prize for her portrait of actor Hugo Weaving.
Ms Barton beat 38 other finalists to win the prestigious $75,000 annual portrait prize.
The textured portrait depicts Weaving holding a wild cat that Barton says demonstrates facets of the actor's personality.
Ms Barton says the cat came up during a conversation about what is close to Weavings' heart. "When he was talking about animals that he might potentially identify with there was the idea of the wildcat or the leopard or the wolf," she said.
"So in the end it was a kind of generic wildcat to represent other facets of his personality."
Barton says she admires Weaving and that he was very patient.
This is Barton's fourth time entering the Archibald Prize, which she won in 2008 with a portrait of herself with her two children.
All up, there were 868 Archibald entries this year.
Matthew Lynn won this year's Packing Room prize for his portrait of Canadian-born author Tara Moss.
The Packing Room prize has never gone to the same artwork as the judges' decision in the main Archibald contest.
An exhibition of the portraits begins on Saturday and continues until the beginning of June.
Visitors to the exhibition will vote on the People's Choice award which will be announced on May 16.
| Awards ceremony | March 2013 | ['(ABC News Australia)', '(The Australian Financial Review)', '(Vogue Australia)', '[permanent dead link]'] |
Rebel fighters launch a massive assault on a prison in Syria's northern city of Aleppo. | Rebel fighters have launched a massive assault on the prison in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, reports say.
The rebels apparently detonated two car bombs to blast through the walls of the prison, which holds 4,000 inmates including anti-government activists.
The opposition said government forces had counter-attacked using tank shells and air raids.
Meanwhile, rebels say claims that one of their commanders desecrated the body of a soldier will be investigated.
In Aleppo, rebels appear to have detonated car bombs outside the walls of the prison on Wednesday morning, the UK-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Officials said government forces fought back, injuring and killing opposition fighters. Rebel sources told the BBC that they had broken into the prison, and had made progress in their fight against government forces.
Clashes were reported throughout the day.
The rebels have not stated what the purpose of the assault was, but the jail is reported to be holding some 250 inmates linked to the anti-government uprising.
In other developments:
The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) has vowed to punish criminals after a video appeared online apparently showing one of its commander cutting out the heart of a soldier.
"Any act contrary to the values that the Syrian people have paid their blood and lost their homes to will not be tolerated, the abuser will be punished severely even if they are associated with the Free Syrian Army," the FSA said, according to AFP news agency.
"The perpetrator will be brought to justice."
The FSA said its field commanders would investigate the video, which shows well-known rebel commander Abu Sakkar standing over the soldier's corpse as he says: "I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog."
US-based Human Rights Watch said his actions were a war crime. The UN says nearly 80,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Assad began in March 2011, and millions have fled their homes.
| Armed Conflict | May 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
At least 11 Philippine soldiers are killed in an ambush by communist rebels in Mansalay, Mindoro. | MANILA, Philippines(UPDATE 2) Eleven Philippine Army soldiers were killed Saturday morning in an ambush by suspected communist rebels in the southern Oriental Mindoro town of Mansalay, a military official said.
A platoon of government troops was responding to a report of communist election extortion when waylaid by New People’s Army rebels at around 5:30 a.m. in the village of Panaytayan, said Colonel Carlos Quita, provincial military commander in Oriental Mindoro.
A three-hour gun battle also resulted in the wounding of seven soldiers with undetermined casualties on the side of the rebels, he said.
Quita, who flew to the area Saturday morning, said government troops “fought it out literally to the last bullet.”
In Manila, military spokesman Colonel Romeo Brawner said more soldiers backed by helicopter gunships have been dispatched to track down the NPA insurgents.
The soldiers were patrolling the area as part of security measures to ensure that candidates in the upcoming May national elections would be able to campaign safely, the two officials said.
“The security patrols and relocation of troops are being implemented to ensure freedom of movement of the candidates when the campaign starts,” Quita said.
He vowed to intensify government’s drive to stop NPA rebels from exacting “campaign fees” from local candidates gunning for various posts in the May 10 polls.
Quita said the “permit to win” and “permit to campaign extortion schemes” of the NPA are depriving electorate in rebel-infested areas from freely choosing their next political leaders.
The rebels have been demanding extortion payments from candidates in exchange for "permits to campaign" cards. Those who refuse to pay are attacked and sometimes killed. | Armed Conflict | March 2010 | ['(Philippine Inquirer)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
India's most advanced INSAT–4A telecommunication satellite is successfully launched by the EADS SPACE Transportation generic rocket, Ariane 5, from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana. | India has launched a three-tonne satellite from French Guiana that promises to revolutionise television services in the country. The Insat-4A satellite was constructed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).
It is carrying 12 Ku band transponders for Direct-to-Home or DTH service and 12 C band transponders that will be used to augment telecom services.
Isro chairman Madhavan Nair says the launch is a "milestone".
"India spreads across 3,000km (1,875 miles) and to reach each and every village, satellite technology is the only possible way," Mr Nair said in a post-launch address.
Mr Nair hailed the spacecraft as the "most advanced, heaviest and powerful satellite" built by Isro so far. It was carried into space on a European Ariane-5 rocket, which also delivered a satellite for the meteorological agency, Eumetsat.
Fighting sanctions
This is the first satellite in the Insat-4 series. Although Isro has its own launch vehicle, it does not have the technology to launch three-tonne satellites. Perfect day for weather sat
The organisation had faced US sanctions after India carried out a series of nuclear tests in 1998. The sanctions have been since removed on all except three organisations attached to Isro, which continue to face the restrictions. The 12 transponders on Insat-4A have already been booked by Tata-Sky to provide DTH services in India. Tata-Sky proposes to provide 150 channels to its subscribers. With the launch of Insat-4A the present capacity of transponders provided by Indian satellites will increase to 150. | New achievements in aerospace | December 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
Former Chilean Army conscript José Adolfo Paredes Márquez is charged with murdering activist/singer Víctor Jara during General Augusto Pinochet's coup d'état in 1973. | It was the atrocity which symbolised Chile's descent into dictatorship: soldiers used rifle butts to smash the hands of Victor Jara, a political activist and folk singer, so he could not play guitar. Then they shot him 44 times.
Yesterday, almost 36 years later, justice caught up with one of killers. José Adolfo Paredes Márquez, a former conscript in Augusto Pinochet's army, was charged with murder.
The burly 54-year-old was tracked down in San Sebastian, a spa town outside the capital Santiago, where he was working as a waiter and gardener.
Activists who have campaigned for the case to be reopened welcomed the announcement but urged authorities to focus on arresting commanding officers. "There are other people responsible those who ordered the torture and the execution," said Joan Turner Jara, the singer's English-born widow.
Jara, a political songwriter and poet and high-profile supporter of socialist President Salvador Allende, was among thousands swept up in the aftermath of Pinochet's CIA-backed coup in September 1973. The author of El cigarrito and Manifiesto was herded into Santiago's football stadium which was used as a mass jail.
Soldiers broke the musician's hands before shooting him in the head and riddling his body with bullets, one of 3,100 murders committed by Pinochet's forces during military rule which lasted until 1990, when democracy returned to the South American country.
After the rightwing dictator died in 2006 activists stepped up efforts to find Jara's killers despite apparent foot-dragging by prosecutors and the army.
In 2008 the case was closed after Mario Manriquez, a retired army colonel who was commanding officer at the stadium, was found guilty of the murder but was deemed not to have pulled the trigger.
Judge Juan Fuentes reopened the investigation after fresh evidence was presented and earlier this month Paredes was tracked down. The former conscript, who was 18 when the crime was committed, confessed his participation but said blame rested with commanding officers.
Campaigners have long sought a notoriously brutal commander, a tall, fair-haired officer nicknamed "El Principe" (The Prince), as the man mostly responsible. Paredes has identified him as Nelson Edgardo Haase Mazzei, a former lieutenant. He allegedly remained seated at a desk while ordering conscripts to torture and shoot prisoners, including Jara. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | May 2009 | ['(Guardian)'] |
Kuwait sentences two people to death for spying for Iran and Hezbollah. | A Kuwaiti court on Tuesday handed down death the penalty to two convicted of espionage with Iran and Hezbollah.
The case also included the possession of weapons. One of the men given the death penalty was an Iranian convicted in absentia as well as another Kuwaiti.
The pair were convicted along with 24 other Kuwaitis, one of whom was sentenced to life in prison.
Nineteen others were jailed for between five and 15 years. Three were acquitted and one was fined.
Kuwaiti authorities said in August they had dismantled an Iran-linked cell and seized large quantities of arms, explosives and ammunition.
The verdicts come amid deep tensions between Tehran and Gulf Arab states after Iranian protesters on January 2 torched Saudi diplomatic missions in Islamic republic. A Kuwaiti court on Tuesday handed down death the penalty to two convicted of espionage with Iran and Hezbollah.
The case also included the possession of weapons. One of the men given the death penalty was an Iranian convicted in absentia as well as another Kuwaiti.
The pair were convicted along with 24 other Kuwaitis, one of whom was sentenced to life in prison.
Nineteen others were jailed for between five and 15 years. Three were acquitted and one was fined.
Kuwaiti authorities said in August they had dismantled an Iran-linked cell and seized large quantities of arms, explosives and ammunition. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | January 2016 | ['(Al–Arabiyah)'] |
Former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch receives the verdict in his trial in Phnom Penh – the first of five surviving senior figures to do so. He is sentenced to 35 years in prison with 16 years off for time served. | Phnom Penh, Cambodia (CNN) -- A man who ran a notorious torture prison where more than 14,000 people died during the Khmer Rouge regime was found guilty of war crimes Monday and sentenced to 35 years in prison -- with five years taken off that sentence for time served. The verdict against Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, also convicted him of crimes against humanity, murder and torture. It was a historic first for a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal. Duch, 67, was the head of the S-21 prison, where at least 14,000 people died. "It's clear that he will never be a free man again," said Youk Chhang, director of Documentation Center of Cambodia. Prosecutors had asked for a 45-year sentence with five years' credit for time served. Duch pleaded guilty but said he was only following orders and asked for forgiveness. In the last week of the trial, he argued that international law did not apply to him because he was following orders.
Few people brought to the prison made it out alive; only about a dozen were found by the Vietnamese who invaded Cambodia in 1979.
Duch has acknowledged his role overseeing the prison but has sought release after 10 years in detention, angering survivors.
Outside the court on Monday, hundreds of Cambodians, including the Muslim minority known as Cham, watched previous court sessions on large television screens.
Timeline: Rise of Khmer Rouge and its aftermath
"We want to hear directly from the court what the verdict will be," said Tin Mosa, who along with 40 others from the Cham group, got up early Monday to come to the court.
"I can assume that the international court is good enough to bring justice for the Cambodian people, especially for me," he said. "I want to see Duch die in jail."
More than 10 million Cambodians were expected to watch the live broadcast of the verdict being televised across the country, said Reach Sambath, the spokesman for the court.
"Today is a historic important day for the people of Cambodia," Sambath said.
At least 1.7 million people -- nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population -- died under the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime from execution, disease, starvation and overwork, according to the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
Another four of the ultra-Maoist regime's former leaders are waiting to see if they will stand trial before a U.N.-backed tribunal for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The tribunal began its work in 2007 after a decade of on-and-off negotiations between the United Nations and Cambodia over the structure and the functioning of the court.
Chhang, director of the documentation center, said his organization was holding verdict watch gatherings in seven provinces so that rural Cambodians could observe.
Chhang said the verdict may not suit everyone, but he thinks Cambodians will be able to turn over a new leaf once the verdict is announced.
"This is what we have, and then we must move [on]. We have our own identity now, our own family, our own society now. We have to build it, make it strong, to prevent [the past] from happening" again," he said.
On Sunday, parents, siblings, friends and loved ones gathered before monks in a courtyard of the prison site -- now a museum -- to participate in a ceremony to honor the dead. Among them were survivors of S-21, such as Bou Meng, who wept at times during the memorial.
"I have been waiting for justice for 30 years," he said. "If the verdict does not please me, I will be disappointed forever."
Eng Chanthy, 47, lost her father, six brothers and grandfather to the Khmer Rouge due to starvation.
"I believe that justice will be brought by the tribunal court," Chanthy said."I heard Duch was apologizing to the Cambodian people and asking the people to pardon to him, and I don't agree with him asking for freedom."
"I feel that Duch should die in prison. I don't want to see him live in freedom," she said. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | July 2010 | ['(Aljazeera)', '(BBC)', '(CNN)'] |
A Spanish court approves the extradition of former Guatemalan Interior Minister Carlos Vielmann to face murder charges in connection with a 2006 uprising at the Pavon prison in Guatemala where seven inmates were killed. | (CNN) -- A Spanish court on Tuesday approved the extradition of former Guatemalan Interior Minister Carlos Vielmann to his homeland to face 10 murder charges stemming from incidents at two prisons there.
Vielmann, who holds dual Guatemalan and Spanish citizenship, has the option to appeal the ruling. The final decision on extradition lies with the Spanish government.
What the court found Tuesday was that the Guatemalan request for extradition to face murder charges was approved under an extradition treaty between the two countries. In addition to the murder charges, the Guatemalan government cited charges of illicit association and extrajudicial killings as reasons for extradition, but the Spanish court found that those charges were not covered by the treaty.
Vielmann faces charges in both Spain and Guatemala stemming from the same incident, a 2006 uprising at the El Pavon prison in Guatemala where seven inmates were killed.
The Interior Ministry and police said at the time that the prisoners were killed during a violent confrontation with prison authorities. However, a report by the Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman's Office concluded the prisoners had been executed.
Vielmann is wanted in Guatemala in connection with the seven killings. He also has been accused of ordering the killings of three inmates who escaped from El Infiernito prison in 2005.
He was arrested in Spain in October 2010, and has been on provisional release since November. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | May 2011 | ['(CNN)'] |
Egypt vows to continue an offensive on the Sinai Peninsula until ISIL militants have been removed. A hundred people have been killed in fighting in the past two days. | Egypt has vowed to rid its Sinai Peninsula of militants after major clashes with Islamic State fighters there killed more than 100 people.
Operations will not stop until the area is cleared of all "terrorist concentrations", the army said.
Air strikes continued into the early hours of Thursday. The army says 17 soldiers were among those killed after militants launched near-simultaneous raids on military checkpoints in Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah.
Local reports put army casualties higher.
The attack was one of the largest co-ordinated assaults in the area yet by Islamic State's (IS) local affiliate, Sinai Province. The peninsula has been under a state of emergency and a curfew since October, when dozens of soldiers were killed in a militant attack. Separately on Wednesday, security officials said nine members of the now banned Muslim Brotherhood, including former MP Nasr al-Hafi, had been killed in a police raid on a flat in western Cairo.
The security situation in Egypt has worsened since the assassination of the public prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, three days ago in the capital.
Analysts said the car bomb attack that killed Mr Barakat also bore the hallmarks of Sinai Province, which was known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis until it pledged allegiance to Islamic State in November and changed its name.
In a statement, the army said it had killed "100 members of the terrorist elements" and injured them in "large numbers" in fighting in North Sinai. It said the operation left 17 soldiers, including four officers, dead.
By late on Wednesday, an army spokesman said the situation was "100% under control" and militants had withdrawn from Sheikh Zuweid.
Brig Mohamed Samir said: "The forces on the ground are completely under control. The group who were captured are being interrogated by the investigation team."
Eyewitness earlier reported seeing militants roaming the streets of the northern town of Sheikh Zuweid, clashing with armed forces. Five army checkpoints were also targeted by car bomb attacks.
The town's main police station came under mortar and RPG fire, and militants reportedly planted bombs along a road leading to a nearby army camp. Egypt sent F-16s jets to bombard the militants in several locations.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said his country sent its "condolences to the government and people of Egypt for the fallen Egyptians slain by IS terror".
He added: "We see IS at the gates, across the border in the Golan, across the border in Egypt... We must stand up to all the forces of militant Islam, those led by Iran, those led by IS."
Since October, police and army patrols have been stepped up to deal with militancy in Sinai - which has been on the rise since the military overthrew Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013. At least 600 police and armed forces personnel have since been killed.
A buffer zone along the border with Gaza was also created and underground tunnels - which the military says were used to smuggle weapons from the Palestinian enclave - have been destroyed.
Following the deaths in Cairo, the Muslim Brotherhood issued a statement saying that several of its leaders had been "murdered... in cold blood" and urged Egyptians to "rise in revolt" against the actions of the government of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.
The interior ministry said the men had been fugitive Brotherhood leaders who were meeting to plan "acts of terrorism and sabotage".
The Muslim Brotherhood, however, said they were part of its committee supporting the families of detainees and members who had been killed. Kim ready for 'dialogue and confrontation' with US | Armed Conflict | July 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Wallow Fire becomes the largest wildfire in Arizona history. | Firefighters have achieved 20% containment of the 469,407-acre Wallow Fire. While the Wallow Fire is now the largest wildfire in Arizona's history, significant progress has been made towards containment. Firefighters continued with patrol, structure protection, containment line improvement and mop-up across the fire. Tonight will be mostly clear with areas of smoke, and a low around 46. Northwest winds will be 5 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Firefighters are coordinating with local fire departments to remove hazards in preparation for eventual reentry by evacuees. Containment lines around South Fork and Nutrioso are being strengthened. Mop up, patrol and hazard tree removal continues in Alpine, Nutrioso, Tal Wi Wi, Greer and South Fork areas. Burnout is proceeding east of Alpine, bringing fire south along a dozer line from FR 220 to US 180. Smoke was visible from a strategic firing operation near Luna Lake. Burnout is one tool firefighters use to help slow the spread or change the direction of a fire. Burning vegetation under the right conditions allows firefighters to better control both the intensity and the movement of the fire. When the fire reaches the treated area it typically slows its spread. As weather permits, crews will ignite unburned fuels in this area to bring fire down toward US 180. Helicopters dropped water on the fire in the Blue River area in the southeast flank. Crews are continuing construction of the 9 - 10 miles of indirect line on the 33 Trail between McBride Canyon and Hwy 19l. Areas south of Black River on the San Carlos Apache Reservation are still holding. The Forest Service and Department of the Interior Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Teams will be initiating assessments of the Wallow Fire burned area to evaluate post-fire conditions and determine if emergency stabilization treatments are warranted. The two BAER teams will coordinate their assessments and work with the Tribes and other agencies to address potential flood threats that cross jurisdictions.
Public Safety
The communities of Greer, Nutrioso and Alpine remain evacuated due to continued active fire behavior in unburned islands within and around these communities. Hazardous burned-out trees, unstable slopes and rockfall, as well as burned out power poles are being evaluated and mitigated. Arizona Fish and Game has a Wildlife Emergency Hotline to report injured wildlife (632) 236-7242. Community Meetings Tomorrow and Thursday
· Luna Community Center, Luna New Mexico 7:00 P.M. (NM) 6:00 (AZ) Wednesday, June 15
· Burdette Hall in San Carlos, AZ, 10 A.M. Thursday, June 16
Current Evacuations · Evacuations remain in effect in Sunrise, Greer, Blue River, Alpine, Nutrioso, and White Mtn. Acres. Evacuee Information
· An evacuee meeting will be held at 10 AM Wednesday at Blue Ridge H.S. in Pinetop/Lakeside.
· Evacuees whose Post Office is closed due to fire activity may pick up their mail at the Eagar Post Office · The evacuation center is located at Blue Ridge High School, 1200 W. White Mtn. Blvd., Pinetop/Lakeside. The phone number for the Red Cross operated evacuation center is (602) 336-6660. · Residents with livestock or animals that need care should contact the Apache County Sheriff's Office (928) 337-4321 or the Greenlee County Sheriff's Office (928) 865-4149.
Pre-Evacuation Alert
· A pre-evacuation alert by the Catron County Sheriff's Office continues for Luna, New Mexico.
Road Closures according to Arizona Department of Transportation: http://www.azdot.gov · US 191 is closed between Alpine and north of Clifton (milepost 176-253). · SR 261 (mileposts 395-413) and SR 273 (mileposts 378-394), the main access roads to Big Lake and Crescent Lake in the White Mountains, are closed. · SR 373 that connects the town of Greer with SR 260 west of Eagar is closed (mileposts 386-391). · US 180 is closed between SR 260 junction near Eagar and New Mexico state line (mileposts 403-433). · In southern Arizona, SR 366 is closed at milepost 118 leading up to Mount Graham (milepost 143) near Safford after the U.S. Forest Service determined the risk of wildfire is too extreme to allow access. · Partial area closures are in effect for the eastside of the Fort Apache Reservation. Road Openings:
· SR 260 reopened today. Motorists are asked to drive carefully as heavy fire traffic may be present. Closures and Restrictions
Apache - Sitgreaves National Forest The Apache portion of the Forest is closed to all public entry. For the Sitgreaves portion of the National Forest, a temporary emergency closure order is in effect. For further information call the Arizona fire restrictions hotline (877) 864-6985 or www.publiclands.org/firenews/AZ.php. Gila National Forest: A closure is in effect for the western portion of the Forest in the Quemado, Reserve and Glenwood Ranger Districts. See http://www.fs.usda.gov/gila or call (575) 388-8201, TTY (575) 388-8497.
White Mountain Apache Reservation: Fire restrictions remain in effect. Public Information
The public may call the following numbers for area specific fire information:
· Spanish language fire information (877)-632-6678
·o (702) 308-3238, (702) 308-3357, (702) 308-8227 from 8 A.M. to 8.P.M.
Information is available at: Website Info: www.inciweb.org Twitter: www.twitter.com/AS NF
Flickr (photos): www.flickr.com/apachesitgreavesnf
Media ·o Springerville, Eagar, Greer, Alpine Media # (480) 331-9554. ·o Luna and Reserve, New Mexico (east side of fire) Media #: (575) 533-6928 | Fire | June 2011 | ['(Incident Information)'] |
In the United States, inmates in 17 states go on strike to protest prison labor conditions. | Organisers say prisoners across the country are expected to refuse to work, hold sit-ins and even stage hunger strikes
Last modified on Thu 16 Apr 2020 12.33 BST
The first part of the prisons likely to be hit will be the kitchens, where stoves will remain unlit, ready-meals unheated and thousands of breakfasts uncooked.
From there the impact will fan out. The laundry will be left unwashed, prison corridors un-mopped, and the lawns on the external grounds ring-fenced with barbed wire will go uncut.
On Tuesday, America’s vast army of incarcerated men and women – at 2.3m of them they form by far the largest imprisoned population in the world – will brace itself for what has the potential to be the largest prison strike in US history.
Nineteen days of peaceful protest are planned across the nation, organised largely by prisoners themselves.
The strike is being spearheaded by incarcerated members of Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, a group of prisoners providing mutual help and legal training to other inmates. A few days ago they released an anonymous statement setting out their reasons for calling a protest that carries the risk of substantial penal retaliation.
“Fundamentally, it’s a human rights issue,” the statement said. “Prisoners understand they are being treated as animals. Prisons in America are a warzone. Every day prisoners are harmed due to conditions of confinement. For some of us it’s as if we are already dead, so what do we have to lose?”
Organizers have put together a list of 10 national demands. They include improved prison conditions, an end to life without parole sentences or “death by incarceration” as the authors call them, increased funding for rehabilitation services and an end to the disenfranchisement of some 6 million Americans with felony convictions who are barred from voting.
One of the most passionately held demands is an immediate end to imposed labor in return for paltry wages, a widespread practice in US prisons that the strike organisers call a modern form of slavery. More than 800,000 prisoners are daily put to work, in some states compulsorily, in roles such as cleaning, cooking and lawn mowing.
The remuneration can be as woeful in states such as Louisiana as 4 cents an hour.
The idea that such lowly-paid work in a $2bn industry is equivalent to slavery is leant weight by the 13th amendment of the US constitution. It banned slavery and involuntary servitude, with one vital exception: “as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted”.
Prisoners, in other words, have no constitutional rights and can be blatantly exploited.
In addition to a refusal to work, inmates engaging with the strike plan to go on hunger strikes, hold sit-in protests and stage a boycott of commissaries, collect phone calls and other payment streams where private and state-owned companies make money out of them. The boycott was the brainchild of Bennu Hannibal Ra-Sun of the Free Alabama Movement under the rubric Redistribute the Pain.
He called on fellow prisoners to stop channeling either their own or their relatives’ money to what he called the “prison industrialized complex”. He urged participants to spend 25% of what they saved from the boycott on books such as Prison Profiteers: Who Makes Money from Mass Incarceration.
Inmates who join the action know that they face potentially serious consequences. Participants face being placed individually into isolation cells, while past prison strikes have been met with lockdowns of entire institutions.
Communications too are certain to be blocked, leading potentially to a blackout of news on the protest.
According to prison reform activists engaged in planning the strike, retaliatory measures have already started. Karen Smith, who runs the Gainesville, Florida chapter of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee that is backing the strike, said that prison authorities have moved most of the local strike organisers into solitary confinement wings where they will be unable to communicate with others.
“Other inmates have been warned that if they continue to contact advocacy groups they will be moved to the most brutal camps.”
The strike comes two years after the last major nationwide prison strike in September 2016 that saw more than 20,000 inmates refuse to show up for work across 12 states. That strike was co-ordinated out of Holman prison in Alabama, a state notorious for its overcrowded and dilapidated penal institutions, by a group of inmates styling themselves the “Free Alabama Movement”.
This year’s strike was triggered by the riot at Lee Correctional Institution in South Carolina in April in which seven inmates died in what was the most deadly prison unrest in a quarter of a century. The bloody melee, fueled by gang rivalry over contraband, lasted for seven hours while prison guards did next to nothing to stop it.
Within days of the South Carolina carnage, and the renewed spotlight it put on the gross overcrowding, understaffing and inhumane living conditions in American prisons, the idea of a nationwide strike began to form.
As inspiration for what promises to be a tough 20 days ahead, strike organizers are leaning on history. The nationwide action begins on Tuesday on the 47th anniversary of the death of the prominent Black Panther member, George Jackson, who was shot as he tried to escape in the prison yard of San Quentin in California.
The strike is then scheduled to close on 9 September, the 47th anniversary of the Attica prison rebellion in upstate New York. In an echo of today’s protest, the 1971 Attica riot was also framed by inmates as a push for humane conditions and basic political rights.
But after four days of negotiations it ended in a bloodbath when New York’s then governor, Nelson Rockefeller, sent in state police armed with shotguns and tear gas. Twenty-nine inmates and 10 of their hostages were killed.
Heather Ann Thompson, Pulitzer prize-winning author of Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971, said that it was symbolically important that Attica was being invoked. “Attica drew a line in the sand – it was a recognition that people have a right to rebel, and will rebel, when they forced into unbelievably horrific conditions.” | Strike | August 2018 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
The French Navy rescues four hostages and kills two Somali pirates on the hijacked yacht Tanit in the Gulf of Aden. | One French hostage has died and four others have been freed in a rescue operation by French troops on a yacht off Somalia, French officials say.
Two pirates were killed in the operation and three were captured, the French presidency said. Officials said the rescue was launched when talks with the pirates broke down and threats became "more specific". Two French couples had been seized with a child, who was among those freed from the yacht, Tanit, seized last week. News of the operation came after a US captain made an unsuccessful overnight bid to escape from another seized vessel off Somalia. Captain Richard Phillips managed to jump overboard off the lifeboat on which he was being held by pirates, US media reported. But his attempt to reach a nearby US military ship was thwarted before it could come to his aid. US troops in the area are continuing to monitor Mr Phillips's situation. He was captured after a struggle on his ship, Maersk Alabama. Reports said the French rescue operation was not thought to be in the vicinity of the US fleet and the Maersk Alabama. In another development on Friday, pirates released a Norwegian cargo ship, the Bow Asir, and its crew, the vessel's owners said. The Bow Asir had been held since 26 March. Victim named
French Defence Minister Herve Morin said the hostage who died was Florent Lemacon, the owner of the Tanit and father of the boy on board. "During the operation, a hostage, Florent Lemacon, unfortunately met his death," he said. "The other four, including the child, are safe and well. The president of the republic and the government offer all their condolences to the family of Florent Lemacon and to his friends and share in their distress." It is unclear whether Mr Lemacon was killed by his captors, or by a stray French bullet. Mr Morin also praised the French soldiers for their efforts to free him. The operation to free those on board the Tanit - the third time French troops have freed hostages from pirates - began late on Thursday, five days after the yacht was seized, the office of President Nicolas Sarkozy said. Negotiations with the pirates had begun earlier this week, the president's spokesman said. But when talks broke down troops immobilised the vessel before moving in for an operation that lasted six minutes, the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby reports from Paris. "With the threats becoming more and more specific, the pirates refusing the offers made to them and the [yacht] heading towards the coast, an operation to free the hostages was decided upon," the president's spokesman said. Mr Morin said his country had shown determination to oppose piracy. "France has shown its determination not to give in to blackmail, [to] prosecute the criminal acts and liberate the hostages every time that a ship under a French flag is captured," he said. Earlier in the week, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had left open the possibility that troops could launch an effort to free the French hostages, telling reporters French officials knew the location of the Tanit. However, it also emerged that the families on board the yacht, which was reported to be heading down to Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania, were urged not to travel through the Gulf of Aden. Escaping consumerism
A spokesman for the French foreign ministry said Florent Lemacon and his wife Chloe were "repeatedly warned" not to travel through the area. "It is difficult to understand why these warnings were not heeded," spokesman Eric Chevallier said. The couple had refurbished the Tanit, a 12.5m (41ft) boat, and given up jobs in a bid to escape consumer society and navigate a route along the African coast to Zanzibar. Speaking to French newspaper Ouest France, Mr Lemacon said they wanted to change their priorities in life. "We don't want our child to receive the sort of education that the government is concocting for us. We have got rid of the television and everything that seemed superfluous to concentrate on what is essential," he said. After a lull earlier this year, the Maersk Alabama was the sixth ship to be hijacked off Somalia in the past week. | Armed Conflict | April 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague orders the retrial of former Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj after stating his first trial was marred by witness intimidation. | PARIS More than two years after trial judges acquitted the former prime minister of Kosovo of murder, rape and torture, an appeals panel at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague on Wednesday ordered him to be retried because the intimidation of witnesses had undermined his trial and produced “a miscarriage of justice.”
The ruling against the former prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, shocked lawyers at the tribunal, which had never been ordered to conduct a retrial and had rarely seen one group of judges criticize another in the strong language of the ruling.
The decision also threatened to aggravate already mounting political tensions between Kosovo and Serbia on the eve of a separate advisory ruling on Thursday by the International Court of Justice on Kosovo’s legal status.
It drew an immediate reaction from Kosovo, where Mr. Haradinaj is seen as a freedom fighter for his role as a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought, with NATO support, for independence from Serbia. Blerim Shala, his deputy in the opposition Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, said the decision to retry Mr. Haradinaj in The Hague was “very bad news” for Kosovo and its citizens.
In Serbia, where the acquittal of Mr. Haradinaj has often been cited with disdain, the judgment was welcomed by Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic. Serbs have complained that only one other trial at the tribunal has dealt with violence against Serbs during the Kosovo war.
In April 2008, Mr. Haradinaj was acquitted for lack of evidence in crimes said to have been carried out by men under his command in 1998. But the appeals chamber, in a decision two years in the making, said the original trial had not done enough to secure the testimony of two witnesses deemed vital to the prosecution. The appeals judges said that in light of “the serious witness intimidation,” the trial judges erred in acquitting Mr. Haradinaj in 2008. They said that this “error undermined the fairness of the proceedings and resulted in a miscarriage of justice.” No date was set for the retrial of Mr. Haradinaj, who was arrested in Kosovo on Tuesday and taken to The Hague. Two other former rebel commanders, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj, who had stood trial with him, will also be retried.
Accounts of threats to witnesses were sometimes heard at other trials at the tribunal, where Serbs, Croats, Kosovars and Bosnians have been prosecuted for crimes linked to the Balkan wars of the 1990s. But in no case was the threat to witnesses as disturbing to prosecutors as in the case of the three men from Kosovo, a place of tight clans, most of them ethnic Albanian, where, as one investigator said then, loyalty and silence were matters of life and death. Carla Del Ponte, the prosecutor at the time, warned at the start of the trial that the intimidation of witnesses was so rampant that she might be obliged to withdraw the indictment. “You know that many witnesses are reluctant to testify; some are even terrified,” she told the court.
Prosecutors have not said how many planned witnesses withdrew. But the appellate panel focused on two “crucial witnesses” who repeatedly refused to testify and whose direct evidence, the appeals judges said, might have made an important difference.
One, identified as Kabashi, a former rebel himself, had told prosecutors he would testify about killings and beatings ordered by the defendants. The second witness, identified as W. 30, was to give evidence about abuse he said he had suffered as a prisoner and the torture and mutilations he saw inflicted on others.
Both had been relocated by the court outside Kosovo and had been offered the status of “protected witnesses.” Kabashi told the trial court via video link from the United States that some people who were supposed to testify “don’t even appear on witness lists because they have been killed.”
“I don’t want protective measures because such measures don’t exist in reality. They only exist within the boundaries of this courtroom, not outside it,” he said. He said he would rather face imprisonment for contempt than testify. At the end of the prosecution case, with Kabashi and W. 30 still reluctant to testify, prosecutors asked for more time, but judges ruled that their time was up.
On Wednesday, the appeals judges said countering witness intimidation was “a primary and necessary function” of any trial chamber. Judges had broad powers, including orders, subpoenas, arrest warrants and other means to assure a fair trial, they said. If such measures fail, they said, they can order “proceedings to be adjourned or stayed.” But in this case, the trial judges erred in giving priority to the trial schedule and meeting their deadlines, the ruling said. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | July 2010 | ['(Deutsche Welle)', '(Aljazeera)', '(The New York Times)', '(BBC)'] |
Olive Lembe di Sita, the First Lady of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, leads a march of thousands of women against sexual violence in the town of Bukavu in the east of the country where hundreds of women have been raped. | The Democratic Republic of Congo's first lady has led thousands of women on a march against sexual violence. Olive Lembe Kabila headed the rally in the town of Bukavu in the east of the country, where Congolese and foreign armed groups have operated for years.
Last week, the UN said government troops were raping and killing women in the same villages where hundreds were raped by rebels in July and August. The country's defence minister has denied any soldiers were involved.
On Friday, the head of the UN mission in DR Congo, Monusco, said an estimated 15,000 people had been raped there last year.
The demonstration led by Mrs Lembe Kabila saw thousands of women walk through the streets of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province.
Many of them carried banners with slogans such as "No to sexual terrorism", according to the AFP news agency.
"Coming here is important because violence towards women is used systematically as a weapon of war," said Miriam Nobre of World March of Women, which organised the march.
Nene Rukunghu, a doctor at a hospital in Bukavu, said the international community finally seemed interested in DR Congo's problems.
"We must fight against impunity, so that the perpetrators of violence are punished, to allow women to regain their dignity. Despite what they endure, Congolese women are strong and able to stand up again." | Protest_Online Condemnation | October 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
A mosque in the Israeli village of Tuba–Zangaria is torched. | Police fear spike in ethnic tensions during Yom Kippur; police commissioner boosts patrols around mosques, other holy places throughout Israel in an effort to assure Arab community that police do not take such incidents lightly.
Police are bracing themselves for possible revenge attacks by Arabs following the torching of a mosque yesterday in the Upper Galilee village of Tuba-Zangaria, an apparent "price tag" action by Jewish extremists.
Police are concerned that Arabs revenge attacks, or acts of Jewish terror, could spark agitation and violence during the upcoming holidays, particularly in cities with mixed Jewish-Arab populations.
| Fire | October 2011 | ['(Haaretz)'] |
President of France Emmanuel Macron nominates the full Édouard Philippe government. Jean–Yves Le Drian becomes foreign minister, Sylvie Goulard defence minister, Bruno Le Maire minister of economy, and Gérard Collomb minister of the interior. | French President Emmanuel Macron has named a mix of prominent and unknown figures from the left and the right to make up the government tasked with pushing through his plans to reduce labour protections, tighten European unity and boost military spending. The most senior Cabinet job — the post of interior minister — went to Gerard Collomb, 69, the Socialist mayor of Lyon who played a key role in Mr Macron's presidential bid. The Interior Ministry is responsible for securing France amid a high threat of extremist violence. Jean-Yves Le Drian, 69, who led France's military operations abroad as former President Francois Hollande's defence minister, will stay on in Mr Macron's government as foreign minister. Le Drian, also a Socialist, has been largely popular and brings deep experience that could prove valuable to the untested 39-year-old president. The armed forces will now be led by Sylvie Goulard, 59, the most senior woman in the government. Goulard is a European Parliament member and strongly pro-European centrist politician who will champion Macron's push for joint European military operations. The crucial Economy Ministry will be run by prominent conservative Bruno Le Maire, 48, an important gesture to the right-wing Republicans party ahead of parliamentary elections next month. The government includes 18 ministers, half of them women and half men. Center-right Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, whom Mr Macron tapped named Monday, is to lead the government at least until the elections. Other positions were filled by ministers from civil society. Nicolas Hulot, the well-known host of a television show focusing on nature and the environment, was named minister for environment transition. Four junior ministers also were named Wednesday, making the total number of Cabinet posts smaller by one-third than under Mr Hollande. The announcement initially planned for Tuesday was pushed back a day while authorities dug more deeply into candidates' tax records and financial assets for signs of potential conflicts of interest. Mr Macron has pledged to fight corruption after tax evasion and other scandals hit the previous government. Later Wednesday, Mr Macron will host European Council President Donald Tusk at the Elysee Palace for a private dinner. It's a sign of the new French president's determination to shore up European unity. The two are expected to discuss security and migration, according to Mr Macron's office. Mr Macron wants European militaries to join efforts and for eurozone countries to share a budget and tax rules. He has also promised a tough line on Britain as it negotiates its departure from the EU, to deter others from trying to leave after debt and migration crises that have eroded public support for the bloc. Mr Macron is expected to visit French troops in Africa later this week. He has already met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel — his main European partner — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and International Olympic Committee members.
Associated Press
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | May 2017 | ['(The Independent)'] |
Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins pleads guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to a range of child sex offences including the attempted rape of a baby. |
Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has pleaded guilty to 13 sexual offences, including two of attempting to rape a baby.
Watkins today admitted he was a paedophile as he pleaded guilty to a range of child sex charges.
The 36-year-old rock star also admitted conspiring to rape another child as he dramatically changed his pleas on the day he was set to stand trial at Cardiff Crown Court.
Prosecutor Chris Clee QC said Watkins was a "determined and committed paedophile".
DCI Peter Doyle of South Wales Police said: "This investigation has uncovered the most shocking and harrowing child abuse evidence I've ever seen."
He said police will now "work tirelessly" to discover whether Watkins had any further victims.
His two female co-defendants also admitted a string of sex abuse charges against their own children.
The court heard how he sent messages to to one of his co-defendants talking of how he wanted "to cross the line".
When she responded with "A summer of incest and child porn" he replied: "Hell yes baby."
He told her: "The sooner we start training her the better."
And there was a conversation about "whoring out" the child as well as giving it crack cocaine.
The court heard how he recorded the attempted rape of a very young child in a hotel room in Shepherds Bush, London, in April 2012. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | November 2013 | ['(Wales Online)'] |
Pro-independence parties gain a majority of the votes for the first time, though voter participation was the lowest in history. The anti-independence Socialists' Party of Catalonia, led by former national Health Minister Salvador Illa, wins the most seats for a single party. The far-right Vox places fourth and enters Parliament for the first time, winning 11 seats. Citizens, who placed first in the previous election, falls to seventh and loses 30 seats. | Catalan Socialist party finishes first as secessionists win more than half the vote on turnout of only 53%
Catalan pro-independence parties have increased their parliamentary majority following a regional election in which the unionist Socialists took the largest share of the vote and the far-right Vox party outperformed its conservative rivals to win its first seats in the northeastern Spanish region.
Sunday’s election was overshadowed by the Covid pandemic and dominated by the continuing debate over independence that has shaped and divided Catalan politics for the past decade.
For the first time, pro-independence parties took more than half the votes, winning 51% – up from 47.5% in the last regional election in December 2017. Between them, they now hold 74 of the 135 seats in the Catalan parliament, an increase of four seats.
The Catalan Socialist party (PSC) finished first, winning 33 seats – up from 17 last time – and 23% of the vote. It was followed by the pro-independence Catalan Republican Left (ERC), which took 33 seats and 21.3% of the vote, and the centre-right, pro-independence Together for Catalonia party, which came third with 32 seats and 20% of the vote.
Vox, which is the third biggest party in the national parliament, won 11 seats, breaking into the Catalan parliament for the first time and taking more seats than its rivals in the conservative People’s party (PP) and the centre-right Citizens party combined. The election was a humiliating event for both parties: Citizens, which finished first in 2017 with 36 seats, dropped to just six, while the PP – for decades the hegemonic party of the Spanish right – slumped from four seats to three.
En Comú Podem, the coalition that includes the regional branch of the far-left anti-austerity Unidas Podemos, retained its eight seats, and the pro-independence anti-capitalist Popular Unity Candidacy won nine.
The poll was triggered last September after the region’s separatist president, Quim Torra, was banned from office for displaying pro-independence symbols on public buildings during the 2019 general election campaign.
With the election over, attention will now focus on the formation of the new regional government.
Torra hailed the results as a “resounding pro-independence victory”, while Laura Borrás, the Together for Catalonia candidate, said the fact that pro-independence parties had won more than 50% of the vote for the first time “has to have consequences for both the government and the parliament”.
But Salvador Illa, the former Spanish health minister who ran as the PSC candidate, said he would seek to be invested as regional president, adding: “The meaning of my victory is very clear – it’s time to turn the page.”
Spain’s prime minister, the Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez, tweeted congratulations to his former colleague. “Socialism has won the election,” he wrote. “Fantastic news for making change and reunion possible. Thank you, Salvador Illa, for giving us back the dream of forging a better future for Catalonia and Spain.”
Jéssica Albiach, the En Comú Podem candidate, said she would speak to Illa and the ERC candidate, Pere Aragonès, in the hope of forming a tripartite leftwing government.
Sunday’s election comes almost three-and-a-half years after the pro-independence regional government of the then president Carles Puigdemont pitched Spain into its worst political crisis in decades by defying repeated warnings from the Spanish government and courts to stage an illegal, unilateral independence referendum.
The issue of Catalan independence has faded over the past two years as splits grew between separatist factions.
The ERC favours a more moderate and negotiated strategy to achieve independence, but Together for Catalonia has opted for a more confrontational approach in order to maintain pressure on the central government and keep its base motivated.
The region remains fairly evenly split over the issue. According to a recent survey, 47.7% of Catalans are against independence and 44.5% in favour.
Illa has vowed to heal divisions and “stitch Catalonia back together” if elected, but pro-independence parties responded to the PSC’s strong showing in pre-election polls by agreeing not to make any deals that would help it into government.
Aragonès, who serves as Catalonia’s acting president, has dismissed Illa’s approach as “amnesia” and argued that his party will not “turn the page” while independence leaders remain in prison over their role in the doomed attempt at secession.
However, although Aragonès said that taking 50% of the vote would be a boost to the independence movement, he added there would be no immediate rush towards unilateral independence. “We’ve always maintained that it’s better to agree on a referendum with Spain,” he told Reuters.
Sunday’s turnout was 53% – vastly down on December 2017, when it stood at 79%. Many people were reluctant to vote because of the continuing third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and the cold, wet weather. However, more than 270,000 people requested a postal vote – three times as many as at the last election. | Government Job change - Election | February 2021 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Voters in Thailand head to the polls to elect all 500 members of the House of Representatives. This is the first parliamentary election held in the country since the invalidation of the 2014 Thai general election and the ensuing 2014 Thai coup d'état. | BANGKOK — Thailand’s military junta has finally allowed elections to take place — the first since it took power in a coup five years ago, promising to be a temporary, steady caretaker of the country amid bitter and violent divisions.
But it has no intention of returning to the barracks.
As polls opened Sunday, the election has shaped up to be anything but an earnest attempt to hand over the reigns to civilian, elected politicians.
By changing the rules of the game and using state laws to crack down on the competition, the junta leaders have stacked the cards in their favor — hoping to extend their grip on power with the blessing of the ballot box.
Rather than delivering democracy, the election is more likely to cement a role of the military within Thailand’s structures of political power, entrenching one of the last few military regimes left in the world, analysts say.
“They have done everything to give themselves an upper hand,” said Supalak Ganjanakhundee, editor of the Nation newspaper and a longtime observer of Thai politics. “It has all the advantages to continue a structure where they are at the center of power, with the monarchy.”
This reality has left pro-democracy forces — dominated by those aligned with the still-powerful ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra — scrambling across the country to pump up supporters, hoping they will turn out in the millions to deliver enough votes to thwart the military’s agenda.
“We will make history on March 24 by ending the power of the [military government],” said Sudarat Keyuraphan, leader of the main Thaksin-aligned party, Pheu Thai, before thousands of supporters Friday at a rally in Bangkok. “Give Pheu Thai a winning landslide.”
Parties like hers have dominated at the ballot box for almost two decades but have been repeatedly thwarted from exercising power because of corruption charges leveled at Thaksin — who now lives outside Thailand — and his family.
Ahead of the elections, the military-run government changed voting rules, making it more difficult for any party to clinch a decisive victory.
But the Thaksin forces were dealt a blow even before campaigns went into full gear.
In a bold and risky political move, one of the parties aligned with the former prime minister picked Thai Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya as its candidate for prime minister.
The unprecedented political play was swiftly shot down by the Thai king, the princess’s younger brother, who called the move “extremely inappropriate.” The party, Thai Raksa Chart, was later dissolved.
Thai princess says ‘I love you’ to fans as political aspirations quashed
“I had every aspiration and dream to become the first minority to walk down to the Thai parliament. Sadly, that’s gone down the drain for now,” one of the group’s leaders and former editor of the Bangkok Post, Umesh Pandey, said recently in an interview in Washington. He was forced to step down from the helm of the paper last year, he says, because he was too critical of the military.
The loss could cripple the Thaksin camp from forming a government. In line with new rules, the junta has handpicked 250 unelected senators, forming a third of the total seats in the legislature.
That means parties aligned with the military will only have to win 126 of the 500 elected seats to push through their nominee for prime minister.
“[You need] 376 seats to put in a person of your choice for the prime minister’s office,” Pandey said. “That will be a herculean task.”
Over the weekend, Thaksin attended his daughter’s wedding in Hong Kong, a ritzy affair at a luxury hotel. Among the guests was Princess Ubolratana, who was pictured taking selfies with Thaksin.
In an usual statement broadcast across Thai television networks late Saturday, the Thai king encouraged his country to have “good people govern the country.” Others, he said, should not be allowed “to obtain power and cause turmoil.”
Pro-democracy forces will likely get a boost from the fresh-faced charismatic leader of a new political party, the Future Forward Party.
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a billionaire who gave up his place in his family’s massive auto parts business to run the party, has amassed a dedicated young fan club since he came on the scene a year ago. He has vowed to fight for the end of military rule in Thailand and says he will be open to an alliance with any party with the same goals.
“What Thanathorn has done is stunning,” Pandey said. “He has rejuvenated the interests of the young — the 20- to 30-year-olds,” many of whom are first-time voters.
The man they are collectively up against is Prayuth Chan-ocha, junta leader and Thailand’s current prime minister. He is running as the prime ministerial candidate for the main military-aligned political party, Palang Pracharat, which has promised stability and continuity — a reference to the violence and bloody protests that have rocked Bangkok for decades.
“We have been created expressly to give the people a new choice,” said Kobsak Pootralkool, the party’s spokesman, in an interview. “We are telling them, ‘You can have a way out from this trap of eternal conflict, and that the existing parties are part of the conflict.’ ”
The message has appealed to some Thais, but analysts note that the party’s rallies are thin and lackluster compared with the feverish support of Pheu Thai or Thanathorn’s young followers.
Prayuth has made his own attempt to charm followers, softening his look by opting for polo shirts and slacks or tailored suits rather than military fatigues. He writes love songs and sings them at rallies, always with nationalistic undertones. Campaign videos show him sporting a relaxed look, with rolled-up sleeves, as soft rock music plays in the background.
In his final rally before supporters in Bangkok, he said he plans to “carry on” his duty.
“I was a soldier. Now, I am a citizen,” he said. Still, “I will die for this country.”
| Government Job change - Election | March 2019 | ['(Reuters)', '(The Washington Post)'] |
German prosecutor requests permission to extradite Carles Puigdemont to Spain. Puigdemont is in preventive detention in Germany since his March 25 arrest under a European Arrest Warrant on the grounds of risk of absconcion. | German prosecutors have asked a court to permit the extradition of the former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to Spain.
Prosecutors in the northern town of Schleswig announced on Tuesday morning they have requested Puigdemont to be put under arrest for extradition purposes after “intensive examination” of the European arrest warrant issued by Spain.
The former Catalan president has been detained at a prison in the town of Neumünster since he was picked up on 25 March, shortly after crossing over the Danish border into northern Germany. Puigdemont had been living in self-imposed exile since Catalonia’s unilateral declaration of independence in October, but left the country last month to give a series of talks in Finland.
Spain is seeking the 55-year-old’s extradition under charges of misuse of public funds in relation to that declaration, as well as “rebellion” in organising an unauthorised referendum.
An extradition request requires that the conduct that gave rise to the arrest warrant in Spain would also be punishable under German criminal law. But while the charge of rebellion has not been part of the German criminal code since the 1960s, the state prosecutor said on on Tuesday it believed it could be equated with high treason in German law.
The Schleswig court is likely to take several days to decide whether to extradite Puigdemont, and could yet come to a different conclusion.
The Catalan separatist’s lawyers have filed an appeal and urged the German government to intervene in the case, citing its “political dimension”. The appeal states that the offence of rebellion, which under Spanish law can fetch up to 30 years in prison, was unjustified since there were only isolated instances of violence before the independence referendum on 1 October.
However, German media is reporting that Angela Merkel’s government has already decided not to veto any decision made by the judiciary. “Spain is a democratic state where rule of law exists”, the chancellor’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said last week. “It remains the conviction of the German government that a solution to this Catalonia conflict has to be found within Spain’s legal and constitutional order”. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | April 2018 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
China successfully launches QUESS, the world's first ever quantum–communications quantum key distribution satellite. | BEIJING — China launched the world’s first quantum communications satellite from the Gobi Desert early Tuesday, a major step in the country’s bid to be at the forefront of quantum research, which could lead to new, completely secure methods of transmitting information.
Researchers hope to use the satellite to beam communications from space to earth with quantum technology, which employs photons, or particles of light. That type of communication could prove to be the most secure in the world, invulnerable to hacking. Scientists and security experts in many countries are studying the technology.
| New achievements in aerospace | August 2016 | ['(The New York Times)', '(Space.com)'] |
Rescue teams find two survivors trapped inside the capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia, which ran aground off the coast of Tuscany on January 13, killing at least three people. The ship's captain is detained by police for questioning. | Fire brigade crews have found two people stranded alive on board the Costa Concordia. Rescuers have managed to speak to the man and woman but have not yet reached them as they are stranded two decks below on the half-submerged ship.
NEW ZEALANDER ON BOARD STRICKEN CRUISE SHIP
A New Zealander has been evacuated from the luxury cruise ship which ran aground off the coast of Tuscany yesterday.
A spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said one New Zealander was aboard the Costa Concordia.
They are now safe and are being provided for by the New Zealand embassy, said the spokesperson.
'HAVE YOU SEEN THE TITANIC? THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT WAS'
The first course had just been served in the Costa Concordia's dining room when the wine glasses, forks and plates of cuttlefish and mushrooms smashed to the ground. At the magic show in the theater, the rubbish bins tipped over and the theater curtains turned on their side. Then the hallways turned upside down, and passengers crawled on bruised knees through the dark. Others jumped alone into the cold Mediterranean Sea.
The terrifying, chaotic escape from the luxury liner was straight out of a scene from Titanic for many of the 4000-plus passengers and crew on the cruise ship, which ran aground off the Italian coast late Friday and flipped on its side with a 50 meter gash in its hull.
At least three bodies had been recovered and divers searched the underwater belly of the boat for a few dozen more who remained unaccounted for. By late Saturday, the number of missing had dwindled to about 40.
The Friday the 13th grounding of the Concordia was one of the most dramatic cruise ship accidents in recent memory. It immediately raised a host of questions: Why did it hit a reef so close to the Tuscan island of Giglio? Did a power failure cause the crew to lose control? And why did crew members tell passengers they weren't in danger until the boast was listing perilously to the side?
The delay made lifeboat rescue eventually impossible for some of the passengers, some of whom jumped into the sea while others waited to be plucked to safety by helicopters. Some boats had to be cut down with an axe.
"We had to scream at the controllers to release the boats from the side," said Mike van Dijk, from Pretoria, South Africa. "It was a scramble, an absolute scramble."
Van Dijk said the boat he was on - on the upended port side - got stuck along the ship's wall as it came down.
"It was a hell of a sound, the crunching," he said.
Costa Crociera SpA, which is owned by the US-based cruise giant Carnival Corp., defended the actions of its crew and said it was cooperating with the investigation. The captain was detained for questioning by prosecutors, investigating him for suspected manslaughter, abandoning ship before all others, and causing a shipwreck, state TV and Sky TV said. Carnival Corp. issued a statement expressing sympathy that didn't address the allegations of delayed evacuation.
France said two of the victims were Frenchmen; a Peruvian diplomat identified the third victim as Tomas Alberto Costilla Mendoza, 42, a crewman from Peru. Some 30 people were injured, at least two seriously.
The ship began its lurch at the beginning of dinner service in the ship's two-story dining room, where passengers described a scene of frantic confusion.
Silverware, plates and glasses crashed down on them from the upper floor balcony, children wailed and darkened hallways upended themselves after the ship began its lurch. Panicked passengers slipped on broken glass as the lights went out while crew members insisted nothing serious was wrong.
"Have you seen Titanic? That's exactly what it was," said Valerie Ananias, 31, a teacher from Los Angeles who was traveling with her sister and parents. They all bore dark red bruises on their knees from the desperate crawl they endured along nearly vertical hallways and stairwells, trying to reach rescue boats.
"We were crawling up a hallway, in the dark, with only the light from the life vest strobe flashing," her mother, Georgia Ananias, 61 said.
"We could hear plates and dishes crashing, people slamming against walls."
She choked up as she remembered the moment when an Argentine couple handed her their three-year-old daughter, unable to keep their balance as the ship listed to the side.
"He said, 'Take my baby,'" Georgia Ananias said, covering her mouth with her hand. "I grabbed the baby. But then I was being pushed down. I didn't want the baby to fall down the stairs. I gave the baby back. I couldn't hold her."
Her daughter Valerie whispered: "I wonder where they are."
The Ananias family was among the last passengers off the ship, left standing on the upended port side. They were forced to exit from a still-attached lifeboat that became impossible to use once the ship began to tip over; so they climbed a ladder dropped too them off a deck and shimmied down a rope to a waiting rescue vessel.
"We thought we were dying four times," Valerie said, recounting the most terrifying moments in their escape.
A top Costa executive, Gianni Onorato, said the Concordia's captain had the liner on its regular, weekly route when it struck a reef. Italian coast guard officials said the circumstances were still unclear, but that the ship hit an unknown obstacle.
Despite some early reports that the captain was dining with passengers when his ship crashed into the reef, he was on the bridge, Onorato said.
"The ship was doing what it does 52 times a year, going along the route between Civitavecchia and Savona," a shaken-looking Onorato told reporters on Giglio, a popular vacation isle off Italy's central west coast.
He said the captain was an 11-year Costa veteran and that the cruise line was cooperating with Italian investigators to find out what went wrong.
Malcolm Latarche, editor of maritime magazine IHS Fairplay Solutions, said a loss of power coupled with a failure of backup systems could have caused the crew to lose control.
"I would say power failure caused by harmonic interference and then it can't propel straight or navigate and it hit rocks," Latarche said.
There were no firm indications that anyone was trapped. Rescuers carried out extensive searches of the waters near the ship for hours and "we would have seen bodies," said Coast Guard Captain Cosimo Nicastro.
Many passengers complained the crew didn't give them good directions on how to evacuate and once the emergency became clear, delayed lowering the lifeboats until the ship was listing too heavily for many to be released.
Several other passengers said crew members told passengers for 45 minutes that there was a simple "technical problem" that had caused the lights to go off.
Seasoned cruisers knew better and went to get their life jackets from their cabins and report to their "muster stations," the emergency stations each passenger is assigned to, they said.
Passengers said they had never participated in an evacuation drill, although one had been scheduled for Saturday. Miriam Vitale, a hostess on the cruise liner who disembarked earlier this week in Palermo, told SkyTG24 the ship conducts a drill every 15 days. She said that since passengers on the Concordia embark or disembark every day, some passengers could miss it depending on which day they begin the trip.
Surviving passengers huddled under woolen or aluminum blankets in a middle school on the Italian mainland of Porto Santo Stefano, where passengers were ferried early Saturday from Giglio. Some wore their life preservers, their shoeless feet were covered with aluminum foil.
Costa Cruises said about 1000 Italian passengers were onboard, as well as more than 500 Germans, about 160 French and about 1000 crew members. New Zealand officals said there was no Kiwis on board.
Coast guard Commander Francesco Paolillo said the exact circumstances of the accident were still unclear, but that the first alarm aboard went off about 10:30 pm, about three hours after the Concordia had begun its voyage from the port of Civitavecchia to Savona, in northwestern Italy. No SOS was sent, he said.
The vessel "hit an obstacle," that tore the side of the ship and started taking on water, Paolillo said. It wasn't clear if the obstacle was a jagged, rocky reef or something else, he said.
The captain, Paolillo said, he then tried to steer his ship toward shallow waters, near Giglio's small port, to make evacuation by lifeboat easier.
Five helicopters from the coast guard, navy and air force took turns airlifting survivors still aboard and ferrying them to safely.
Costa Cruises said the Costa Concordia was sailing on a weeklong cruise across the Mediterranean Sea in Savona, setting off on January 7 with stops at Civitavecchia, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari and Palermo.
The Concordia had a previous accident in Italian waters, ANSA reported. In 2008, when strong winds buffeted Palermo, the cruise ship banged against the Sicilian port's dock, and suffered damage but no one was injured, ANSA said.
What the passengers said:
"The lifeboats were all full. We wanted to give him [her 15-month-old son, Filippo] to someone because we couldn't get on. No one would take him. They told us to go to the next boat, the next boat. It was Titanic. Identical." - Anna Veroni finally found a lifeboat that would take her whole family. "It was so unorganized, our evacuation drill was scheduled for 5pm. We had joked 'What if something had happened today? I will never go on a boat again. We didn't even get to see Italy, nor do we know how we're going to get home." - Melissa Goduti, 28, Connecticut. "Have you seen Titanic? That's exactly what it was." - Valerie Ananias, 31, Los Angeles.
"We were crawling up a hallway, in the dark, with only the light from the life vest strobe flashing. We could hear plates and dishes crashing, people slamming against walls" - Georgia Ananias, 61, Los Angeles.
"We had to scream at the controllers to release the boats from the side. We were standing in the corridors and they weren't allowing us to get onto the boats. It was a scramble, an absolute scramble." - Mike van Dijk, 54, Pretoria, South Africa.
"No one counted us, neither in the life boats nor on land." - Ophelie Gondelle, 28, Marseille, France. She said there had been no evacuation drill since she boarded in Marseille, France on January 8. | Shipwreck | January 2012 | ['(New Zealand Herald)'] |
The 12 Hours of Sebring is postponed until November 11–14. This follows an announcement that the companion event 1000 Miles of Sebring would be cancelled. (Road & Track) |
Shortly after the World Endurance Championship canceled its 1000-mile race at Sebring, IMSA has moved the 12-hour to November in response to the spread of COVID-19
The 12 Hours of Sebring, one of the premiere sports car races in North America, has been postponed to November. This news comes just hours after the World Endurance Championship announced the cancellation of its 1000-Mile race at the legendary Florida track, which was to be held the day before the 12-hour. IMSA organizers decided to postpone Sebring over the worldwide spread of COVID-19.
Holding the 12 Hours of Sebring in March became untenable after a travel ban on non-U.S. citizens coming to the country from Europe (excluding the U.K.) was announced last night. The ban will go into effect tomorrow, and will be in place for 30 days. While IMSA is a North American series, many of the drivers and team personnel are European. There's also a ban on cargo coming from Europe, further complicating things for race organizers.
Now, the race will be held on the weekend of November 11 to 14, where it will serve as the IMSA WeatherTech season finale.
This news comes on a day filled with motorsports cancellations and postponements as the coronavirus spreads. There's the aforementioned cancellation of the WEC Sebring 1000 mile race, plus the postponements of the NASCAR race at Homestead-Miami, originally scheduled for March 22, and the MotoGP Argentinian Grand Prix. Additionally, the season-opening IndyCar race at St. Petersburg will be run without fans in the stands. The next IMSA WeatherTech event scheduled is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which features the series' two professional classes, DPi and GTLM. As of right now, that event is still planned to continue. | Sports Competition | March 2020 | ['(RACER)'] |
At least 18 civilians are killed after militants attack the village of Yattakou, in Burkina Faso. | The attack in Yattakou village also left one person severely wounded and displaced residents, local governor says.
A local official in northern Burkina Faso has said at least 18 people were killed and one seriously wounded in an attack this week that also caused “massive displacement”.
Salfo Kabore, governor of Seno province located in conflict-hit Burkina Faso’s Sahel region, said unidentified gunmen carried out the attack on Monday in Yattakou village.
Many local residents fled towards the capital of the Seytenga commune, while the wounded person was taken to hospital in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, Kabore said in a statement on Wednesday.
The attack happened the same day that two Spanish journalists and an Irish conservationist were killed and a Burkinabe soldier went missing when their anti-poaching patrol was ambushed by rebels in the country’s east.
While it is unclear who committed the attack in the Sahel region, a high-ranking security official told The Associated Press news agency that it was likely carried out by fighters linked to ISIL who are known to operate in the area along the border with Niger. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press.
In recent years, large parts of the western portion of the Sahel, a semi-arid region directly south of the Sahara Desert, have been plagued by violence that involves multiple armed groups, military campaigns by national armies and international partners as well as local militias.
In Burkina Faso, the conflict has killed thousands of people, displaced more than one million and created a worsening humanitarian crisis
This week’s attack in the country’s hard-hit Sahel region came as rebels have ramped up attacks against civilians and security forces, according to a statement by the government, which said the “terrorists have carried out acts of intimidation, looting, and assassination on civilian populations.”
Earlier this month in Seno province’s Gorgadji town, fighters killed at least 10 local defence fighters, volunteers recruited by the government to help the army, Hamidou Damboro Zango, the village chief told AP.
Zango, whose son and nephew were killed in the violence, said that even though Gorgadji is controlled by the army, rebels managed to enter at night and steal people’s animals. When the volunteer fighters tried to retrieve them the next day they were ambushed and killed, he said.
“I’m sad. As a chief, I can’t watch my people die,” said Zango. “We need help.”
The region was plunged into conflict in 2012 when armed groups overtook a rebellion by ethnic Tuareg separatists in northern Mali. France led an intervention the next year to beat back the armed groups, which scattered and regrouped before taking their campaign into central Mali in 2015 and then into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.
Earlier this week, the United Nations and NGOs warned that a record 29 million people in six countries in the Sahel were in need of humanitarian assistance in the face of “unparalleled” insecurity and growing hunger.
| Armed Conflict | April 2021 | ['(Al Jazeera)'] |
A fire breaks out at the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in San Gabriel, California, US, resulting in the collapse of its roof and considerable damage to the nearly 250–year–old building's interior. | The fire broke out one day after $200,000 in renovations had been completed at the church, which is more than 200 years old.
By Maria Cramer
A fire early on Saturday morning destroyed the roof and badly damaged the interior of San Gabriel Mission, a Catholic church in California that is more than 200 years old and considered to be the “birthplace” of the Los Angeles region.
The mission was founded in 1771 by the Franciscan fathers under the leadership of the Rev. Junipero Serra, a Spanish priest who helped colonize California. Construction of the church started in 1775 and ended in 1805, said Terri Huerta, director of development and communications at the mission. | Fire | July 2020 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
Thousands of protesters, predominantly farmers, block roads and railways in India to protest legislation that would remove government–guaranteed grain prices which are paid to farmers who sell their produce to the government. | SHAMBHU, India (Reuters) - Thousands of farmers in India blocked roads and railway tracks on Friday in a protest against new legislation that they say could pave the way for the government to stop buying grain at guaranteed prices, leaving them at the mercy of private buyers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has defended the bills - recently approved by parliament - as reforms to help rid India’s vast agriculture sector of antiquated laws and allow farmers to sell to institutional buyers and big retailers such as Walmart.
The government insists the new rules give farmers the option to sell their produce to private buyers while it would still purchase staples such as rice and wheat at guaranteed prices.
But such assurances have failed to mollify millions of farmers who make up an influential voting bloc in states such as Punjab and Haryana - India’s northern farm belt which borders the capital New Delhi.
Modi, who was re-elected with an overwhelming majority in 2019, now faces the biggest farmers’ protest just weeks before an assembly election in Bihar, India’s third-most populous state.
As part of a nationwide shutdown called by India’s leading farmers’ organisations, growers held demonstrations in many parts of the country and blocked highways leading to New Delhi using trucks, tractors and combine harvesters.
Farmer Karam Singh accused the government of trying to make traditional wholesale markets redundant. Farm leaders say India’s more than 7,000 regulated wholesale markets have played a crucial role in ensuring timely payments to growers.
Singh said the new law has made nearly 85% of India’s poor farmers, who own less than 2 hectares (5 acres) of land, vulnerable to being shortchanged by private buyers.
“The private sector will give us a good price for one or two years, but what about after that?” he asked. “The government should guarantee the private sector will give us more than the government price.”
As well as in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, farmers held protests in the eastern states of Odisha and West Bengal.
Farmers’ bodies also organised protests in Modi’s home state of Gujarat in eastern India.
The protests have remained peaceful but most growers, who hit the streets in large numbers, did not wear face masks despite a daily surge in coronavirus cases in India.
Authorities on Friday had to cancel several train services as farmers blocked railway tracks.
Police in various states have beefed up security in the hope of heading off any violence, especially around New Delhi.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | September 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
NASA announces that the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite will be launched from Cape Canaveral on April 16. | Washington: NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or Tess aimed at detecting planets outside our solar system, is set to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida on April 16. The mission is scheduled to launch no earlier around 4:02am on April 17 (India time) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, NASA said on Wednesday. Tess is NASA's next step in the search for exoplanets, including those that could support life. Once in orbit, Tess will spend about two years surveying 200,000 of the brightest stars near the Sun to search for planets outside our solar system. Tess will find the most promising exoplanets orbiting relatively nearby stars, giving future researchers a rich set of new targets for more comprehensive follow-up studies, including the potential to assess their capacity to harbour life.
With the help of a gravitational assist from the Moon, the spacecraft will settle into a 13.7-day orbit around Earth, NASA said in an earlier statement. Sixty days after the launch and following tests of its instruments, the satellite will begin its initial two-year mission. Four wide-field cameras will give Tess a field-of-view that covers 85 per cent of our entire sky. Within this vast visual perspective, the sky has been divided into 26 sectors that Tess will observe one by one. The first year of observations will map the 13 sectors encompassing the southern sky, and the second year will map the 13 sectors of the northern sky.
Also read: InSight, NASA's Mars Exploration Program, to launch on May 5
The spacecraft will be looking for a phenomenon known as a transit, where a planet passes in front of its star, causing a periodic and regular dip in the star's brightness. NASA's Kepler spacecraft used the same method to spot more than 2,600 confirmed exoplanets, most of them orbiting faint stars 300 to 3,000 light-years away.
TESS will look at stars which are classified in the twelfth apparent magnitude and brighter, while some of them are visible to the naked eye. The higher is the apparent magnitude, the fainter is the star. For comparison, most people can only see stars as faint as sixth magnitude in a clear dark sky and the faintest star as third magnitude in the Big Dipper ranks. Powerful telescopes such as NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope can also further study these exoplanets in order to search for important characteristics, like the atmospheric composition and whether or not they could support life. | New achievements in aerospace | April 2018 | ['(Times Now News)'] |
The death toll from the 2010 Haitian cholera outbreak reaches 330 with the impact of Hurricane Tomas later in the week expected to make things worse. | Are you in Haiti? Please share your photos and videos with CNN iReport. (CNN) -- The death toll from a cholera outbreak in Haiti has risen to more than 330, and officials believe Hurricane Tomas may worsen the situation as it approaches, a U.N. spokeswoman said Saturday.
The number of confirmed cholera cases has climbed to 4,764, with 337 deaths, said Imogen Wall, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Haiti, citing information provided by the Haitian government. Those numbers represent the people that were able to make it to the hospital, she said.
Another 200 cases are suspected in the nation's West Department, or province, she said.
What is cholera?
Tracking maps show Hurricane Tomas nearing Haiti on Thursday as a Category 3 hurricane.
U.N. peacekeepers said Thursday that preliminary tests on a suspected source of the cholera outbreak were negative.
The U.N. mission in Haiti is testing waste and sewage water at the back of a Nepalese military base that is part of the U.N. operations. The first tests showed no signs of cholera, officials said earlier this week.
The mission said it "has taken very seriously the allegations that sewage water coming from latrines at the back of the Nepalese military base in Mirebalais could be the source of the cholera outbreak in Haiti."
Cholera cases up worldwide
Suspicions about the Nepalese base arose from reports that water was collecting at the back of the base. It was believed to be overflow from the latrine or a septic tank.
U.N. engineers examined the base and concluded that the standing water was not from the latrine of septic tank, but from a soak pit that receives water from the kitchen and the shower area, the U.N mission said.
"This soak pit is located three meters from the latrines, hence misleading passers-by into believing that the soaked ground close to latrines is caused by the overspill of human waste," it said.
All human waste from the camp is collected in seven septic tanks that are emptied out and discharged in a local landfill as authorized by the local government, the United Nations said.
The agency also noted that all 710 Nepalese soldiers underwent medical tests, and tested negative for cholera, before deployment to Haiti earlier this month. | Disease Outbreaks | October 2010 | ['(CNN)'] |
An Oklahoma district court finds Johnson & Johnson liable for exacerbating opioid addiction in the state, and fines them US$572 million. The company announces it will appeal. | NORMAN, Okla./BOSTON (Reuters) - An Oklahoma judge on Monday ordered Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N to pay $572.1 million to the state for its part in fueling an opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing addictive painkillers, a sum that was substantially less than investors had expected, driving up J&J's shares.
J&J "up to their necks" in the opioids crisis: Oklahoma AG
01:04
The state’s attorney general had filed the lawsuit, seeking $17 billion to address the impact of the drug crisis on Oklahoma. It had been considered a bellwether for other litigation nationwide over the opioid epidemic.
“The expectation was this was going to be a $1.5 billion to $2 billion fine,” said Jared Holz, healthcare strategist for Jefferies & Co. “$572 million is a much lower number than had been feared.”
J&J said it would appeal the decision.
Shares of J&J were up 2% in extended trading following the decision, after an initial gain of more than 5%. Other drugmakers that sell opioid painkillers and are defending against similar lawsuits also rose after-hours, including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd TEVA.TA up 2.6%, and Endo International Plc ENDP.O, up 1.4% higher.
Opioids were involved in almost 400,000 overdose deaths from 1999 to 2017, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 2000, some 6,000 Oklahomans have died from opioid overdoses, according to the state’s lawyers.
Roughly 2,500 lawsuits have been brought by states, counties and municipalities nationally seeking to hold drugmakers responsible for opioid abuse nationwide. Oklahoma’s case was the first to go to trial. Some drugmakers have chosen to settle cases.
In holding J&J liable after a seven-week, non-jury trial, Judge Thad Balkman of Cleveland County District Court in Norman, Oklahoma, said the state proved that J&J’s misleading marketing and promotion of its Duragesic and Nucynta painkillers created a public nuisance.
“The opioid crisis is an imminent danger and menace to Oklahomans,” Balkman said.
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Oklahoma wanted J&J to help it address the epidemic for the next 30 years by funding addiction treatment and prevention programs.
Balkman said in his written ruling that the award covered only one year of addressing the crisis because Oklahoma did not demonstrate the time and costs needed beyond that.
Lance Lang, a 36-year-old recovering user of opioids turned activist in Oklahoma City, said it was “short sighted” for the judge to have only ordered funding for a year. “There’s going to be people struggling with this for years,” he said in an interview.
J&J said it will ask that the award be put on hold during an appeal process that could stretch into 2021. The company also said Oklahoma failed to show that its products and activities had created a public nuisance.
“You can’t sue your way out of the opioid abuse crisis,” Sabrina Strong, a lawyer for J&J, said at a news conference after the verdict. “Everyone must come together to address this. But J&J did not cause the opioid crisis.”
“ACCOUNTABLE FOR DEATHS AND ADDICTIONS”
The case was brought by Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, who alleged that J&J’s marketing practices helped fuel the opioid epidemic by flooding the market with painkillers.
“Johnson & Johnson will finally be held accountable for thousands of deaths and addictions caused by their actions,” Hunter said.
The trial came after Oklahoma had resolved claims against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP in March for $270 million and Teva in May for $85 million, leaving J&J as the lone defendant.
The verdict came as two Ohio counties prepare for a scheduled October trial before a federal judge in Cleveland. About 2,000 lawsuits out of some 2,500 filed nationwide are consolidated in the case in Cleveland.
Endo International Plc ENDP.O and Allergan Plc AGN.N last week agreed to pay $15 million to avoid going to trial in October in a case by two Ohio counties, subject to court approval.
Some plaintiffs’ lawyers have compared the opioid cases to litigation by states against the tobacco industry that led to a $246 billion settlement in 1998.
Joe Rice, a lead plaintiff’s attorney for municipalities in the federal litigation, said if the Oklahoma award were extrapolated to other states, it could mean an annual abatement cost of around $38 billion.
“It does indicate that if I’m in the pharmaceutical business, I’ve got to think long and hard about annual payments of my share of that,” he said.
The judge overseeing the federal litigation in Ohio has been pushing for a global settlement.
J&J, which is among multiple pharmaceutical companies that are defendants in the federal litigation, said it remains “open to viable options” to resolve the Ohio case, including through settlement.
During the Oklahoma trial, lawyers for the state argued that J&J carried out a years-long marketing campaign that minimized the painkillers’ addiction risks and promoted their benefits.
The lawyers called J&J an opioid “kingpin” and argued that its marketing created a public nuisance as doctors over-prescribed the drugs, leading to a surge in overdose deaths.
J&J countered that its marketing claims had scientific support and its painkillers accounted for a tiny fraction of opioids prescribed in Oklahoma. The company said in a statement that since 2008, its painkillers accounted for less than 1% of the U.S. market, including generics.
Teva said the ruling supported its rationale for settling the case before trial, and said it was preparing to defend itself in the upcoming trial in Ohio.
Purdue, which is also among the defendants in the Ohio litigation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reporting by Heide Brandes in Norman, Oklahoma, and Nate Raymond in Boston; Additional reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Writing by Tom Hals; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Bill Berkrot and Leslie Adler
| Organization Fine | August 2019 | ['(Reuters)'] |
American cyclist Floyd Landis is officially stripped of his win in the 2006 Tour de France and banned from competition for two years after an arbitration panel finds him guilty of doping during the 2006 Tour. He has 30 days to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. | PARIS -- Floyd Landis lost his expensive and explosive doping case Thursday when arbitrators upheld the results of a test that showed the 2006 Tour de France champion used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback victory.
The decision means Landis, who repeatedly has denied using performance-enhancing drugs, must forfeit his Tour de France title and is subject to a two-year ban, retroactive to Jan. 30, 2007. According to hearing documents, the vote was 2-1 to uphold the results, with lead arbitrator Patrice Brunet and Richard McLaren in the majority and Christopher Campbell dissenting. The 84-page ruling, handed down nearly four months after a bizarre and bitterly fought hearing, leaves the American with one final way to possibly salvage his title -- an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He has a month to file an appeal.
Speaking from his home in Murrieta, Calif., outside San Diego, an angry Landis sounded as if he were leaning against an appeal and seemed fatalistic about the odds he will ever race professionally again.
"I have to assess whether a system that corrupt is worth subjecting myself to again," Landis told ESPN.com's Bonnie D. Ford. "I don't have any reason to believe that CAS is any more sincere.
"Money is a large part of it. I have to consider my family when I consider risking everything I have left. It might be like putting all my money in a slot machine."
Landis, who spent an estimated $2 million on his defense, called the ruling "completely absurd" and said he drew no consolation from the fact that the panel found some of the French lab's procedures wanting. Although he said he was surprised and disappointed by the decision, he added that it confirmed his suspicion that the outcome may have been a foregone conclusion.
"The only way this could have come out any differently is if one of the arbitrators was drunk and checked the wrong box," he said. "There's something going on here other than trying to figure out the science."
Landis said that having his Tour title summarily stripped stung badly despite all the time he has had to prepare mentally for that possibility.
"Of course it hurts," he said. "I worked for 15 years to do that. I earned it. To have it taken away in this manner couldn't hurt more."
The 31-year-old Landis said he feels ambivalent about racing again. "I do want to, but whether I will is a slim chance," he said.
The issue may be nearly moot if he is slapped with an additional 2-year ban from the Pro Tour, which runs the race schedule for elite teams -- although that structure itself has been threatened by the political infighting endemic to the sport.
He also could face a specific ban against competing in France if the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) goes ahead with its own disciplinary proceeding, which it suspended pending the USADA panel's ruling.
"This is not a rewarding thing to be a part of right now," Landis said. "I would advise athletes all over the world to stop giving urine samples until these guys clean up their act."
If Landis decides to appeal and doesn't win, he'll be the first person in the 105-year history of the race to lose the Tour title because of a doping offense. Suh told Ford the Landis camp is "weighing their options" on whether to appeal. If the appeal goes forward, there is no precedent for an athlete having a CAS hearing open to the public. The CAS rules say the hearing must be confidential, but, according to Suh, the rules of the UCI, cycling's world governing body, state an athlete has the right to an open hearing. If Landis appeals, his lawyers say they will argue that the hearing should be open.
The lawyers who represented USADA took an entirely different view of the panel's ruling.
"The majority got the science right," said lead attorney Rich Young of the Colorado Springs office of Holme, Roberts & Owen, which has served as outside counsel in numerous cases brought by USADA. "I wasn't shocked by Mr. Campbell's dissent. We've seen them before."
In its decision, the majority found the initial screening test to measure Landis' testosterone levels -- the testosterone-to-epitestosterone test -- was not done according to World Anti-Doping Agency rules.
But the more precise and expensive carbon-isotope ration analysis (IRMS), performed after a positive T-E test is recorded, was accurate, the arbitrators said, meaning "an anti-doping rule violation is established."
Landis insisted on a public hearing not only to prove his
innocence, but to shine a spotlight on USADA and the rules it
enforces and also establish a pattern of incompetence at the French
lab where his urine was tested.
Although the panel rejected Landis' argument of a "conspiracy"
at the Chatenay-Malabry lab, it did find areas of concern. They
dealt with chain of command in controlling the urine sample, the
way the tests were run on the machine, the way the machine was
prepared and the "forensic corrections" done on the lab
paperwork.
"... the Panel finds that the practises of the Lab in training
its employees appears to lack the vigor the Panel would expect in
the circumstances given the enormous consequences to athletes" of
an adverse analytical finding, the decision said.
The majority repeatedly wrote that any mistakes made at the lab
were not enough to dismiss the positive test, but also sent a
warning.
"If such practises continue, it may well be that in the future,
an error like this could result in the dismissal" of a positive
finding by the lab.
In Campbell's dissenting opinion, Landis' case should have been one of
those cases.
"In many instances, Mr. Landis sustained his burden of proof
beyond a reasonable doubt," Campbell wrote. "The documents
supplied by LNDD are so filled with errors that they do not support
an Adverse Analytical Finding. Mr. Landis should be found
innocent."
According to Landis co-counsel Howard Jacobs, who has represented numerous athletes accused of dopiong offenses, the criticism of the lab in the ruling is highly unusual, if not unprecedented.
Young and co-counsel Matt Barnett told ESPN.com they were not troubled by the panel's criticism of the French lab, nor are they worried that it could result in a reversal if Landis appeals. They said the errors noted by the arbitrators did not affect the substance of the case, although the mistakes did, in Barnett's words, make it "somewhat messier."
"I really think clean athletes should be encouraged by this ruling," Barnett said. "It means USADA has a commitment to bring these cases even if they're tough cases."
The decision comes more than a year after Landis' stunning
comeback in Stage 17 of the 2006 Tour, one that many people said
couldn't be done without some kind of outside help. Flying to the
lead near the start of a grueling Alpine stage, Landis regained
nearly eight minutes against the leader, and went on to win the
three-week race.
"Well, all I can say is that justice has been done, and that
this is what the UCI felt was correct all along," Pat McQuaid,
leader of cycling's world governing body, told The Associated Press
by telephone. "We now await and see if he does appeal to CAS.
"It's not a great surprise considering how events have evolved.
He got a highly qualified legal team who tried to baffle everybody
with science and public relations. And in the end the facts stood
up."
Spanish rider Oscar Pereiro, who finished second to Landis in
the 2006 Tour, said he hadn't officially heard the news yet.
"You never want to win a competition like that," he said.
"But after a year and a half of all of this I'm just glad it's
over."
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said race organizers were confident in the Chatenay-Malabry laboratory's work all along -- and that the process took too long.
"Now it is proven and confirmed that Landis cheated. As far as the Tour de France is concerned, Landis was no longer the winner after the positive test of the second sample," he said. "According to the rules, [Pereiro] will be promoted to first place."
As for the length of the Landis proceedings, Prudhomme said "Landis did everything he could in his defense, for which he cannot be reproached. But it is clear that the process has been far too long."
Landis took his share of abuse throughout the process, and ultimately, USADA
still improved to 35-0 in cases it has brought before arbitration
panels since it was founded in 2000.
This was a nasty contest waged on both sides, with USADA
attorneys going after Landis' character and taking liberties in
evidence discovery that wouldn't be permitted in a regular court of
law. And Landis accused USADA of using a win-at-all-costs strategy
and prosecuting him only to get him to turn on seven-time winner
Lance Armstrong, who has long fought doping allegations that have
never been proven.
Addressing "problematic behavior on the part of both parties,"
the panel wrote it would not revisit the conduct of either side.
"They are just part of the litigation war games the parties
counsel engaged in between themselves," the decision said.
More than the complex, turgid scientific evidence, the hearing
will be remembered for the Greg LeMond brouhaha.
The hearing turned into a soap opera when the former Tour de
France winner showed up and told of being sexually abused as a
child, confiding that to Landis, then receiving a call from Landis'
manager the night before his testimony threatening to disclose
LeMond's secret to the world if LeMond showed up.
LeMond not only showed up, but he also claimed Landis had admitted
to him that he doped. That was the only aspect of the LeMond
testimony the panel cared about.
"The panel concludes that the respondent's comment to Mr.
LeMond did not amount to an admission of guilt or doping," the
majority wrote.
Barnett said he had "no regrets" about calling LeMond as a witness. "I continue to be impressed by his courage in testifying," the lawyer told ESPN.com. Barnett said he still believes LeMond's account -- and a shady threat made by Landis' then-business manager in an apparent attempt to discourage LeMond from testifying -- provided "corroborating evidence" of Landis' guilt. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | September 2007 | ['(AP via ESPN.com)'] |
U.S. intellectual Noam Chomsky is awarded the Ulysses Medal by University College Dublin. | Noam Chomsky, described by The New York Times as 'the most important intellectual alive', he is one of the world's most most-cited sources in academic journals
Professor Noam Chomsky who will deliver the annual Amnesty International lecture during the Belfast Festival at Queen's University
Amnesty International
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Noam Chomsky, described by The New York Times as 'the most important intellectual alive', he is one of the world's most most-cited sources in academic journals
April 03 2013 02:47 AM
Veteran US political activist and intellectual Noam Chomsky has received another accolade.
Professor Chomsky, who came to prominence in the 1950s as a pioneering figure in linguistics, was awarded the Ulysses medal -- the highest honour University College Dublin can bestow.
The medal, awarded to individuals whose work has made an outstanding global contribution, was presented by UCD president Dr Hugh Brady at a ceremony in the university where he addressed an audience of over 1,000 students yesterday.
Ahead of a major lecture in Dublin today, Professor Chomsky warned that the European Union's response to the economic crisis has left European democracy in a worse condition than that of the United States.
Professor Chomsky said: "I’m not a great admirer of the Federal Reserve, but I think they’ve been much more constructive and thoughtful and progressive than the European Central Bank has been. "I mean, take Ireland. It was a crisis of the banks. It wasn’t the Government; it wasn’t the population. It’s fundamentally bank corruption.
"It’s the same in Spain. Spain had close to a balanced budget in 2007 and pretty good economic fundamentals. But the housing bubble, fuelled by Spanish and indeed German banks, you know they were the lenders, went way out and caused a great crisis for which the public is now paying." | Awards ceremony | April 2013 | ['(The Belfast Telegraph)'] |
Voters in Anchorage, Alaska, United States, reject a proposed amendment to the city charter which would have restricted public restroom use to the gender appearing on the user's birth certificate. | MoHagani Magnetek speaks to other opponents of Proposition 1 who gathered at Williwaw on April 3, 2018. (Marc Lester / ADN)
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comment from Kim Minnery, a co-sponsor of Proposition 1.
Initial results in Anchorage's local election Tuesday night showed a majority of voters rejecting a contentious ballot initiative to regulate restrooms, locker rooms and "intimate facilities" by sex at birth instead of gender identity, after what was one of the most expensive campaigns in city election history.
The measure, Proposition 1, would have rolled back a legal protection for transgender people that has been in effect for more than two years.
The results could change in the coming days. About 53 percent of the 50,000 ballots counted Tuesday night were "no" votes on Prop. 1, compared to 46 percent in favor. But at least an additional 16,000 ballots cast have been received by elections officials and not yet counted.
Updated results are expected to be posted starting Wednesday.
[High turnout in Anchorage's first-ever vote-by-mail election]
Kati Ward, campaign manager for the Fair Anchorage campaign, which opposed Prop. 1, said her group was hopeful Tuesday night.
"The Anchorage transgender community has stepped up and led this campaign in such an amazing, powerful way," she said. "While we know we don't have all the results tonight, we're cautiously optimistic."
Advocates of Proposition 1 — a local version of what's been known nationally as a "bathroom bill" — said the city's existing law, which allows people to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity, caused safety problems and discomfort for women.
Opponents said the initiative was a veiled attempt to discriminate against people who are transgender.
Kim Minnery, who co-sponsored the initiative, said Wednesday morning that she saw the initial margin as a victory either way.
"Obviously we're a little disappointed, but I think it will be close," Minnery said. "When you consider we were outspent 6-1, if we can get a close margin of victory or defeat, we would consider that an accomplishment."
The latest campaign finance reports show Fair Anchorage, a campaign that first formed in January 2016 to support the city's non-discrimination law, spending at least $800,000 on advertising, consulting services, phone banking and other campaign activities. The records indicate a large infusion of Outside money from a variety of donors.
Major businesses, including BP and Wells Fargo, came out against Prop. 1, saying it would hurt the city's economy.
In spending, the Fair Anchorage campaign dwarfed its opponents. Finance reports show that the "Yes on 1 — Protect Our Privacy" campaign, coordinated by the group Alaska Family Action, had spent roughly $123,000 as of late March.
Elsewhere on the ballot
Proposition 9, which would give parking authority to Girdwood, passing overwhelmingly with voters Tuesday night. Girdwood officials sought parking enforcement power after Slush Cup 2017 turned the ski community south of Anchorage into a parking lot.
But Proposition 12, a measure to expand the city's fire service area to include the Eagle River Valley, was being rejected by voters inside the service area. | Government Policy Changes | April 2018 | ['(Out Magazine)', '(Anchorage Daily News)'] |
Georgia Senator David Perdue is criticized for remarks at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference in which his quote of Psalm 109:8, "Let his days be few, and may another have his office," appears to be a prayer for President Barack Obama’s death. Perdue says, "It was a little humor and I said it in a way that we were talking about his days as president." | The freshman senator from Georgia quoted scripture at a right-wing Christian confab to say the president's days should be short.
Former Political Reporter
At a major event for conservative Christians this morning, a Republican senator joked about praying for President Obama’s “days to be short.”
Sen. David Perdue, a freshman senator from Georgia, opened his remarks at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference by encouraging attendees to pray for President Obama. But, he added in a joking tone, they need to pray for him in a very specific way: “We should pray for him like Psalms 109:8 says: Let his days be few, and let another have his office,” the senator said, smiling wryly.
The crowd chuckled and he moved on with his address. The rest of that passage, which Perdue did not recite, reads, “May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes.”
The psalm is a pointed, lengthy death wish for one of David’s enemies.
“Let the creditor seize all that he has, and let strangers plunder his labor. Let there be none to extend mercy to him, nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off, and in the generation following let their name be blotted out,” it continues. Perdue’s joke drew immediate criticism. Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, tweeted, “Republican Senator David Perdue is praying for President Obama to die. This is why Trump is the GOP nominee.”
As the Washington Post’s Dave Weigel pointed out, conservatives have long invoked this verse in the yearning for an end to Obama’s days in office. A Christian Science Monitor report from November 16, 2009, detailed the popularity of bumper stickers that read simply, “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8.”
“It’s protected speech, but it’s clearly offensive,” the Anti-Defamation League’s Deborah Lauter said at the time.
The Road to Majority conference brings together top leaders in the social-conservative world, as well as prominent elected Republicans. Shortly after Perdue’s speech, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and top Trump adviser Sen. Jeff Sessions spoke. Donald Trump will keynote the event later today.
UPDATE: After publication, Perdue spokeswoman Caroline Vanvick gave this statement to Bloomberg’s Sahil Kapur:
“Senator Perdue said we are called to pray for our country, for our leaders, and for our president. He in no way wishes harm towards our president and everyone in the room understood that. However, we should add the media to our prayer list because they are pushing a narrative to create controversy and that is exactly what the American people are tired of.” | Famous Person - Give a speech | June 2016 | ['(UPI)', '(The Daily Beast)'] |
In a 6–1 decision, the Federal Court of Malaysia rules that news portal Malaysiakini can be held in contempt of court over its users' comments against the Malaysian judiciary. Co–founder and editor–in–chief Steven Gan is personally absolved of the charge. The portal will be required to pay RM500,000 (about US$120,000) in fines next week. | Malaysia's highest court on Friday (Feb 19) found news portal Malaysiakini in contempt of court over comments posted by readers deemed offensive to the judiciary, in a case widely seen as a test of media freedom in the country.
Last year, Malaysia’s attorney-general filed an application to cite Malaysiakini and editor-in-chief Steven Gan for contempt of court over five comments posted by readers on its website that it said undermined public confidence in the judiciary.
In a six to one decision on Friday, a Federal Court panel found Malaysiakini was fully responsible for publishing the readers' comments that "undermined the system of justice in the country" and fined the news portal RM500,000 (US$123,000).
"The impugned statements had gone far and wide ... the content was spurious and reprehensible in nature and the content involved allegations of corruption which were unproven and untrue," said judge Rohana Yusuf, who chaired the panel.
The fine was more than double the RM200,000 prosecutors had sought, though the court cleared Gan of any offence.
Malaysiakini and Gan had maintained that they could not be held responsible and that the offending comments had been immediately removed after they were contacted by police.
In a country with a highly regulated media often dominated by state-controlled groups, Malaysiakini has been a platform for the opposition and a critic of the establishment.
After the hearing, Gan said he was "very disappointed" with the court's decision, which he said put a burden on news and technology companies to control comments posted by external parties.
"It will have a chilling effect on discussion of public issues in the country and delivers a body blow on our campaign to fight corruption in the country," Gan told a news conference.
It is unlikely Malaysiakini can appeal the verdict because the case was heard before Malaysia's highest court.
In January, Gan said reporters should not "give up" in the face of what he described as "harassment" by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government.
He said in the two decades since he founded Malaysiakini, its journalists had been declared traitors, faced debilitating cyberattacks, kicked out of press conferences, arrested and raided by the police.
Malaysia has moved up the World Press Freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders in recent years. But rights groups have said freedom of speech and freedom of the press face renewed pressure after an unexpected change to a Muhyiddin government in March last year. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | February 2021 | ['(Malaysiakini)', '(CNA)'] |
Peter Beattie resigns as the Premier of Queensland effective from Thursday with Anna Bligh tipped to replace him. | "I've indicated to my Cabinet colleagues and my caucus colleagues and my workmates that I'll be resigning as Premier at 10:00 on Thursday," Mr Beattie said.
Mr Beattie says he will also resign from his seat of Brisbane Central. He says he has been considering his future since June, but will retire as premier on Thursday and will resign his seat on Friday.
He has been in the top job for more than nine years and is the longest serving of all current state and territory leaders in Australia.
Mr Beattie says he believes leaders should stay in the top job for about eight years, but he stayed beyond that because he wanted to see three major projects completed or well under way - health, the water grid and council amalgamations.
Mr Beattie says he is proud of his Cabinet and the Labor caucus.
"We've got the team that can take us forward," he said.
Mr Beattie also endorsed current Deputy Premier Anna Bligh as his successor. He says he is happy to be leaving the government in the hands of his deputy and that his departure is about renewal.
"If governments don't renew, they die. If parties don't renew, they die."
Ms Bligh is likely to be elected as Premier by the Labor caucus on Wednesday, becoming Queensland's first female premier.
Mr Beattie says he does not want to be a troublesome backbencher in the Bligh government.
He says the real tipping point in his decision was when the government opened the first stage of the water grid earlier this month.
Mr Beattie says with the first stage of the water grid having been opened, now is the right time to go.
"I'm not going to deny I've waxed and waned about this a number of times," he said.
He thanked a range of people including his family members and the people of Queensland.
He says he has made his share of mistakes, but just wants to be remembered as someone who did his best.
"Sometimes it was good enough, sometimes it wasn't good enough - but I always did my best," he said.
He has ruled out a move into federal politics, saying he has no interest in it and his wife will not allow it.
"There would be a death in the family, and that would be me," he joked.
Mr Beattie says he spoke with federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd for "an hour or so" last night about retiring.
He says he thinks Mr Rudd will win the federal election, but there is still a long way to go.
Heather Beattie paid tribute to her husband, saying it had been an honour being the Premier's wife.
"I'd just like to congratulate Peter - he has done his best and I think he's done a wonderful job," she said.
She says Queenslanders have made the journey enjoyable, and she has enjoyed meeting wonderful people up and down the state.
Mr Beattie says he and his wife Heather have not yet thought about what to do next, but will go on a long holiday and then consider the options.
"We are actually craving privacy and time with the kids and family," he said.
Mr Beattie first hinted at standing down at the ALP state conference in July and in a weekend newspaper article, his wife urged him not to contest the next state election.
Qld Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney says Mr Beattie has left Queensland in a state of turmoil that Ms Bligh is likely to inherit.
"We highlighted last week in the Parliament the extent to which the ambulance service is in crisis," he said.
"It follows on from the water crisis and the health crisis and the power crisis and the kids in care crisis, all of which will be part of Peter Beattie's legacy.
"But there's no indication that his staged handover to Anna Bligh will bring Queenslanders any closer to a resolution of any of those issues."
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | September 2007 | ['(ABC News Australia)'] |
Presidential and parliamentary elections are being simultaneously held in Seychelles. Voting is scheduled to last until October 24. | Voting is taking place on some outer islands and three special stations on the main island of Mahe. (Seychelles News Agency)
(Seychelles News Agency) - Voters in Seychelles cast the first ballots in the island nation's presidential and National Assembly elections on Thursday, the first of three days of voting.
At the top of the ballot three men are vying for president: Wavel Ramkalawan from the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS), Danny Faure, the incumbent president of United Seychelles (US) and Alain St Ange of One Seychelles.
Voting is taking place on some outer islands and five special stations on the main island of Mahe: one at the Old People's Home at North East Point, one for remandees at the Remand Centre at Bois De Rose, one at English River creche, one at Baie Lazare community centre and one at the quarantine centre at Beau Vallon Bay.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, the chief electoral officer, Manuella Amesbury, said all logistics have been set up for the first day of voting.
"A lot of emphases has been placed on the preparation taking into account the COVID-19 pandemic. We got the help of the Department of Health to set up COVID-19 procedures. We want a credible and safe election," said Amesbury.
A special station at English River crèche will be used by voters working in essential services who will be at work on the main election day and voters who will be travelling on October 22-24.
The chief executive of the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC), Philip Morin, said that starting from Friday "more surveillance will be put in place in the voting stations to ensure that there is no mistake. Outside the station, we have inspected different zones that will supply the stations with electricity to detect if there is any problem."
Morin added that PUC is also putting generators in all districts and "this means if there is no electricity we can use the backup generators. We are also placing electrical and water engineers."
The second day, Friday, voting will take place on Astove, Assomption, Aldabra, Ile aux Vache, Denis and Fregate islands and at special stations on the main island of Mahe.
The main voting day will be on Saturday October 24 where voters will cast their ballots in the three most populated islands of Seychelles, Mahe, Praslin and La Digue from 7 a.m to 7 p.m.
Four parties and two independent candidates will vie for a seat in the National Assembly, the island nation's legislative body. Linyon Demokratik Seselwa and United Seychelles have candidates in all the twenty-six electoral districts. One Seychelles and Lalyans Seselwa have 18 and three candidates respectively.
The district with the highest number of registered voters remains Anse Etoile with 4,064 while Roche Caiman has the smallest number with 1,990. A new voting district Perseverance has 3,083 registered voters.
The last presidential election in Seychelles took place in December 2015 and the National Assembly election in September 2016. | Government Job change - Election | October 2020 | ['(Seychelles News Agency)'] |
A judge and court clerk are shot dead at the Law Courts of Brussels, the main courts in the Belgian capital. | A female magistrate and a court clerk have been shot dead in a courtroom in the Belgian capital.
A lone gunman opened fire in a building near the main Palais de Justice in Brussels at about 1115 (0915 GMT).
Belgian media identified the dead justice of the peace as Isabelle Brandon and clerk Andre Bellemans, who were presiding over a civil tribunal.
A search is under way for the gunman - who was reported to be injured - after he fled the scene on foot.
Officials said the attacker had attended a morning session, but no immediate details were given about his identity or possible motive.
"He was present at the outset of the hearing," said Jean-Marc Meilleur of the Brussels prosecutor's office. "Toward the end of the session, he pulled a gun. Shots were fired, after which the killer fled."
Police have sealed off surrounding streets, and issued warnings to shoppers and tourists to go indoors.
Justice Minister Stefaan De Clerck said this was the first time in Belgian judicial history that a magistrate has been killed in the middle of a court hearing, state broadcaster RTBF reported. He said that security would be stepped up, but not to expect closed rooms and CCTV everywhere, as "justice should be about proximity to people".
Lawyers and judges have held a minute's silence for the victims in front of the Palais de Justice. A lawyer who works at the court, Pierre Brimeyer, told AP: "We have been witnessing increasing levels of violence and tension in the Palais de Justice for years. "Incidents have happened before and now we have reached a critical level." One Covid vaccine dose cuts hospital risk by 75%
But the number of Delta variant cases recorded in the UK has risen by 79% in a week, figures show. | Famous Person - Death | June 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(B92)', '(AFP)', '(Xinhua)'] |
Precious wins the People's Choice Award at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. | Precious, a gritty movie produced by Oprah Winfrey and featuring singer Mariah Carey, has won the main prize at the Toronto Film Festival.
It won the award voted for by film fans, taken last year by eventual Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire. Director Lee Daniels said he made the film "for every person who looked in the mirror and felt unsure about the person looking back". Precious stars actress Gabourey Sidibe in her first major screen role. The film gained a warm critical reception when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and is due to be released in cinemas in November. It tells the story of Harlem teenager Precious, who is illiterate and expecting her second child. The movie also features rock star Lenny Kravitz in one of his first acting roles. Other prizes that were awarded at the Canadian festival included the best documentary award, given to New Zealand feature The Topp Twins, about a lesbian country and western singing duo. | Awards ceremony | September 2009 | ['(BBC)', '(Cape Times)', '(CBC)', '(The Sydney Morning Herald)', '(CNN)', '[permanent dead link]'] |
Islamic State militants behead 82-year-old antiquities scholar Khaled Asaad, who worked for over 50 years as head of antiquities in Palmyra. , | The archaeologist who looked after ancient ruins of Palmyra in Syria for 40 years is reported to have been killed by Islamic State (IS) militants.
Khaled al-Asaad had been held for about a month by the group, which seized the Unesco World Heritage site in May. The 81-year-old's family informed Syria's director of antiquities Maamoun Abdul Karim that he had been beheaded. Mr Karim said IS militants had tried to extract information from Mr Asaad about where some treasures were hidden.
He described Mr Asaad as "one of the most important pioneers in Syrian archaeology in the 20th Century".
The murder has been denounced as a "horrific act" by Unesco, the UN cultural organisation.
"They killed him because he would not betray his deep commitment to Palmyra," Unesco Director General Irina Bokova said in a statement. "His work will live on far beyond the reach of these extremists," she said. "They murdered a great man, but they will never silence history." IS has demolished several ancient sites in Iraq, and there are fears that it will destroy Palmyra, one of the archaeological jewels of the Middle East.
The Syrian state news agency, Sana, and the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Mr Asaad had been beheaded on Tuesday at a square outside the museum in the modern town next to the ruins, also known as Tadmur, in front of dozens of people.
Photos apparently showing Mr Asaad's body tied to what appears to be a lamp-post adjoining a main road have been circulated online by IS supporters. His severed head was placed underneath it. A sign attached to the body accused him of being an apostate who was in regular communication with and supported the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
He was also accused of representing Syria at overseas conferences with "infidels", in addition to being director of Palmyra's "idols". The summary killing was one of several that have been carried out by IS in and around Palmyra since they took the city in May.
Mr Asaad spent most of his life working to promote and protect Palmyra.
He was in charge of the site for four decades until 2003, when he retired. He then worked as an expert with the antiquities and museums department. Khaled al-Asaad
Profile of Syria's 'Mr Palmyra'
IS threat to 'Venice of the Sands'
Your memories of Palmyra
Saving history from the jihadists
Syrian ruins that influenced the West
Jihadists in Palmyra were looking for "stores of gold" in the city, Mr Karim said, [but] "I deny wholeheartedly that these stores exist".
Mr Karim described Mr Asaad as "a scholar", while denouncing the presence of IS in Palmyra as "a curse and a bad omen" on the city and "every column and every archaeological piece in it".
Abdalrazzaq Moaz, co-director of cultural heritage initiatives at the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), told the BBC that Mr Asaad had devoted his entire life to the site and died trying to protect it.
Since overrunning Palmyra, IS has destroyed a second century statue of a lion and two nearby Islamic shrines, which it described as "manifestations of polytheism".
The group also released a video in July showing some 20 captured government soldiers being shot dead at Palmyra's theatre.
Syrian government forces have sought to drive IS out of the Palmyra area in recent months and there has been fierce fighting in nearby towns.
Also on Wednesday, new images were posted online appearing to show IS "religious police" vandalising ancient artefacts in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh.
Unesco's statement said that Mr Asaad's death was part of two intense blows within a week that had been endured by Syria's cultural heritage community. It said that Qasem Abdullah Yehiya, a senior member of the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums, was also reported to have been killed in a rocket attack on the Citadel of Damascus last week.
| Famous Person - Death | August 2015 | ['(Reuters)', '(BBC)'] |
The season's first hurricane, Hurricane Danny, is upgraded to Category 3, as its winds strengthened to 115 mph. On its current track, the hurricane will move across the Leeward Islands by Monday but may weaken when it reaches Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. , |
The National Hurricane Center issued its final advisory for Danny at 11 a.m. EDT on Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, stating that there was no longer a closed circulation center based on Hurricane Hunter data. Danny was moving into the Leeward Islands at the time the final advisory was issued.
Danny formed on Aug. 18, 2015 as Tropical Depression Four and strengthened into a tropical storm later that day.
Danny then became a hurricane on Aug. 20, and peaked as a Category 3 with maximum sustained winds up to 115 mph on the afternoon of Aug. 21, 2015. This made Danny the first major hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season.
A "wall of wind shear" near the Caribbean weakened Danny quickly Aug. 22-24, 2015. Wind shear can blow convection (shower and t-storm activity) away from the center of a tropical cyclone. If strong enough, it can rip apart existing tropical cyclones like we saw with Danny. In addition, those west to southwest winds aloft transported more dry air into the circulation of Danny. This dry air is also stable, meaning it suppresses upward vertical columns of air needed to maintain or form new thunderstorms. All of this led to Danny's demise.
(MORE: Expert Analysis | Hurricane Central)
Danny did bring some gusty winds and rain to the Leeward Islands on Aug. 24, but overall impacts were minimal. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands saw some rain from Danny's remnants on Aug. 25.
On the afternoon of Aug. 21, a NOAA research plane sent back near real-time radar images from a hurricane for the first time.
Incidentally, while small, Danny wasn't the smallest tropical cyclone on record. According to the NOAA's Hurricane Research Division, Tropical Storm Marco in 2008 had gale-force winds extending only 12 miles from the center. Danny's tropical storm-force winds extended up to an estimated 60 miles from the center on Aug. 21.
Danny became only the fourth named storm to become a hurricane in the strip of the Atlantic Ocean from off west Africa to the Lesser Antilles since the start of the 2011 season. Gonzalo (2014), Humberto (2013) and Katia (2011) were the only others to do so in that stretch of over four seasons.
Danny was the first hurricane to strengthen to Category 3 intensity in that Lesser Antilles to west Africa strip of ocean since 2010's Julia.
Senior meteorologists Nick Wiltgen and Jonathan Erdman and meteorologists Chris Dolce and Quincy Vagell contributed to this report.
| Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | August 2015 | ['(USA Today)', '(Weather Channel updated)'] |
At least one person is killed and 40 others are injured when a train derails in Sindh, Pakistan. | At least one person has been killed and 40 injured after a train derailed in southern Pakistan.
The train derailed between the Rohri and Sangi stations in the southern Sindh province on Sunday and caused a temporary suspension of railway traffic in both directions, said Kamran Lashari, a railway official.
The 18-car train that departed from Karachi for the eastern city of Lahore derailed and six fell into a shallow ditch, Lashari added.
It was not immediately clear how many passengers were on board and what caused the derailment.
Darkness and the remote location of the derailment caused delays in rescue efforts, rescue official Muhammad Arshad said, adding that the body of the woman who died and 40 injured passengers were taken to hospitals in nearby towns.
Train accidents are common in Pakistan, where successive governments have paid little attention to improving the poorly maintained signal system and ageing tracks.
Last month, at least 18 people, including women and children, were killed when a passenger train collided with a bus at a crossing in southern Pakistan.
| Train collisions | March 2021 | ['(Al Jazeera English)'] |
British Prime Minister David Cameron announces that Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams has resigned from the British parliament, having accepted the position of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead. | House of Commons Speaker John Bercow has ruled that Gerry Adams has been disqualified from Parliament. Earlier, Downing Street had apologised to Mr Adams after the prime minister said he had accepted a Crown title.
David Cameron told the House of Commons Mr Adams had accepted the title in order to resign his Westminster seat.
This was disputed by the Sinn Fein president who said he had not applied and had received an apology from the PM's office.
Parliamentary rules mean MPs cannot officially resign and have to accept a crown office to give up their seat. Following a point of order from Labour's Thomas Docherty in the House of Commons on Wednesday night, Mr Bercow said: "I can inform the House that I have received formal notification from the Chancellor of the Exchequer that Gerard Adams has been appointed to be Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead."
He said that under the Disqualification Act 1975, Mr Adams was "therefore disqualified from membership of the House".
Earlier, a Treasury spokesman said Mr Adams had said "publicly that he is resigning from Parliament".
"Consistent with long-standing precedent, the Chancellor has taken this as a request to be appointed the Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead and granted the office," he added.
David Cameron had told MPs that Mr Adams had accepted the role.
Speaking in response to a question from DUP MP Nigel Dodds, the prime minister said he was glad that the rules had been followed. To laughter from MPs, he added: "I'm not sure that Gerry Adams will be delighted to be Baron of the Manor of Northstead. But nonetheless I'm pleased that tradition has been maintained."
Later on Wednesday, Mr Adams said that when he was told of Mr Cameron's remarks it was the first he had "heard of this development".
In a statement he said the claim that he had accepted a crown title was "untrue" and that he had "simply resigned"
"I am an Irish republican," he said.
"I have had no truck whatsoever with these antiquated and quite bizarre aspects of the British parliamentary system." He described Mr Cameron's announcement as "bizarre" . "I am sure the burghers of that Manor are as bemused as me," he added.
"I have spoken to the Prime Minister's private secretary today and he has apologised for today's events. "The onus is on the Westminster parties to call a by-election as soon as possible in the West Belfast constituency."
On Tuesday, the Speaker's Office had told the BBC that it was its understanding that Mr Adams had not applied for the crown position and therefore remained an MP. 'Sacred rules' block Adams' exit | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | January 2011 | ['(The Independent)', '(BBC)'] |
An explosion on a train at the Parsons Green tube station in London injures 29. Scotland Yard is treating the incident as a terrorist attack. | An "improvised explosive device" was detonated on a Tube train in south-west London during Friday's morning rush hour, injuring 29 people.
The blast, at Parsons Green station on a District Line train from Wimbledon, is being treated as terrorism. So-called Islamic State says it carried out the attack, which Prime Minister Theresa May condemned as "cowardly". A hunt is under way for the person who placed the device and the area around the station has been evacuated.
Specialist officers there securing the remains of the improvised device and ensuring it is stable.
Mrs May said the attack had been "intended to cause significant harm".
She said the UK's terror threat level would remain at severe - the second highest - but would be under review. Speaking in Downing Street after chairing a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee, she said there would be an increased armed police presence on the transport network in London.
Hundreds of detectives and MI5 are investigating the attack, which took place at 08:20 BST on an eastbound train.
Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley earlier refused to say whether anyone had been arrested.
Pictures taken of the train show a white bucket on fire inside a supermarket bag, with wires trailing on to the carriage floor. The BBC understands the device had a timer.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the bomb appeared not to have gone off. Had it worked as intended, it would have killed everyone around it and maimed everyone in the train carriage for life, he said. US President Donald Trump has spoken to Prime Minister Theresa May to convey his sympathies for those injured in the terrorist attack, the White House has said.
President Trump pledged to continue close collaboration with the UK to stop attacks and combat extremism, the statement added.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "President Trump called the prime minister earlier today to offer his condolences over this morning's cowardly attack in London."
US President Donald Trump had earlier tweeted that the "sick and demented" people behind the attack had been in the sights of the Metropolitan Police, prompting Mrs May to say it was not helpful to "speculate" on an ongoing investigation. Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has been treating 14 people, with a "small number" of them being taken to its specialist burns unit. Four people are being treated by Imperial College Healthcare and three at St George's Hospital. St Thomas' Hospital in London said it had treated eight patients but they had now been discharged. Mr Rowley asked the public to remain "vigilant", but said they should "not be alarmed".
He said anyone who took pictures or videos at the scene could upload them to ukpoliceimageappeal.co.uk.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan appealed for calm, saying the city would "never be intimidated or defeated by terrorism".
Witnesses to the incident have described seeing at least one passenger with facial injuries, while others spoke of "panic" as alarmed passengers left the train at the station, which is above ground.
Anna Gorniak, who was in the same Tube carriage as the explosion, said: "I could see a fireball filling the carriage and coming our way. At that moment, I started to run.
"In my mind I was praying, I probably thought for a second, 'That's it, my life is over.'"
Passenger Peter Crowley was sitting in the carriage, travelling from Wimbledon, when the explosion happened.
He said his head was burned by a "really hot intense fireball above my head" and added: "There were people a lot worse than me."
Chris Wildish told BBC Radio 5 live he saw a bucket in a supermarket bag with "low-level flames coming out of it" by the door of the rear carriage.
By Dominic Casciani, BBC home affairs correspondent
The bomb at Parsons Green was an improvised explosive device (IED) and, like those on 21/7, it didn't work as planned. The device's initiator appears to have worked - but the main charge did not detonate. This could be because the bomb-maker had got the recipe wrong.
In the case of the 21/7 attacks, the attackers tried to create TATP, an explosive compound made from hydrogen peroxide, commonly sold as hair bleach, and other chemicals. They added chapatti flour to make the explosion more powerful still. But their chemistry was incompetent - in fact so incompetent that the ringleader had no idea, when he strapped on his rucksack, whether his device was capable of detonating or not. TATP was used in the Manchester Arena attack earlier this year - and it was also the chemical of choice for some of the Paris 2015 attackers and the men behind the Brussels Airport bombing the following year.
Emma Stevie, 27, who was on the train when the explosion happened, said she was caught in a "human stampede" and crush on the station steps as people rushed away from the train.
"I wedged myself in next to a railing, I put myself in the foetal position," she said.
"There was a pregnant woman underneath me, and I was trying really hard not to crush her.
"I saw a poor little boy with a smashed-in head and other injuries. It was horrible." | Armed Conflict | September 2017 | ['(The Guardian)', '(BBC)'] |
Sharmeka Moffitt, 20, a female from Winnsboro, Louisiana, sustains burns to over 60% of her body in what was initially believed to be a possible hate crime after she had claimed, through relatives, to have been set afire by three unknown at large male hoodiewearing assailants in Winnsboro's Civitan Park. It turned out she is believed by police to have set herself on fire and to have written the slur on her car (she has since opened her eyes and blinked to communicate with relatives at Louisiana State University Hospital Shreveport, where she underwent surgery). | A horrific attack in Louisiana has left a 20-year-old woman in critical condition after she was allegedly set on fire by three men wearing white hoodies. Sharmeka Moffitt suffered third-degree burns on 60 percent of her body; she'll undergo surgery tomorrow. The attack has rocketed across the Internet since it occurred on Sunday night, particularlybecause it was rumored that Moffitt's Obama T-shirt may have provoked theassailants. Moffitt was not, however, wearing the shirt when attacked. Police in Winnsboro, La., have confirmed that "KKK" was spray-painted on the hood of her car, along with a racial slur and the FBI is investigating whether the attack should be classified as a hate crime. | Armed Conflict | October 2012 | ['(Shreveport Times)', '(MSN)', '(MSN)'] |
Nepal's presidential election concludes with Ram Baran Yadav winning with a majority. | KATHMANDU -- Nepali Constituent Assembly (CA) has concluded the voting of re-polling for the post of the youngest republic's president at noon Monday at the CA venue, International Convention Center (ICC) in Nepali capital Kathmandu.
Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, general secretary of the second largest CA party Nepali Congress (NC), who has been also supported by the third and the fourth CA parties, the Communist Party of Nepal ( Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) and Madhesi People's Rights ( MPRF), appeared to be in a stronger position compared with his rival Ram Raja Prasad Singh nominated by the largest party the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M).
As per the latest alliance mark-sheet by local newspaper Kantipur daily, Dr. Yadav has been promised of support from around 308 CA members, which is more than half of the total 594 CA members.
On Saturday evening, Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) candidate Paramananda Jha was declared the first vice president of republican Nepal by the CA.
However, none of the presidential candidates gathered simple majority support from the 578 voting CA members. Ram Baran Yadav bagged 283 votes and Ram Raja Prasad Singh won 270 votes.
Since no single candidate won over half support (298 votes out of 594 CA member voters), two top candidates securing the largest number of votes, Ram Baran Yadav and Ram Raja Prasad Singh, came to contest again in the elections for the second round. The elections will be held in successive rounds until a single candidate for the two posts emerge with a simple majority.
Nepal was declared a federal democratic republic at the first CA meeting on May 28, ending the 240-year Shah dynasty. | Government Job change - Election | July 2008 | ['(China Daily)'] |
French food company Danone agrees to buy American company WhiteWave Foods for $10 billion. | Danone, the French company that sells Stonyfield yogurt and Evian water, said on Thursday that it had agreed to buy the WhiteWave Foods Company — maker of Horizon Organic dairy products and Earthbound Farm salad greens, among other brands — for about $10 billion in cash.
The deal, aimed at enhancing the American profile of the company that makes Dannon and Activia yogurts, will significantly increase Danone’s presence in the lucrative organic foods market. Also, through WhiteWave’s ownership of the Silk brand of soy and nut milks, the purchase will give Danone a toehold in the flourishing market for plant-based dairy substitutes.
| Organization Merge | July 2016 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
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